Cast From Paradise
by bluerain1984
Summary: "Whoever receives this message, know this: Captain Archibald Harlan valiantly went down with his ship. His mission was carried out. And if you ever find this shuttle or my body, don't worry. I chose this. I chose to risk everything. I chose to follow the mission to the last. I choose to follow these people in to the depths..." - Marla McGivers; Final transmission from 'The Eden'.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I own nothing. I'm just a fan trying to throw something together that came to her head.

Enjoy!

* * *

Falling.

They were falling.

Some part of her had always feared this would happen if she joined up. Bad career change. Bad choices all around, really, disguised as good ones. She never made truly good decisions, anyway.

The woman clad in blue ran through the ship, even as its corridors and walkways twisted, slanted. She hoped that they wouldn't flip entirely upside down. She ran right through to the transporter room, while her head ran through the basics of the control panel. Required that all personnel have a general knowledge. She was glad she'd paid attention in training.

Fingers flew over the screens and their buttons. Another blast. She lost her balance, had to grab the console to keep her feet under her.

"Computer!" The ship's AI replied to her call with a twittering sound. "Set Escape Shuttle Coordinates! All pods!" She listed a string of numbers, hoping she didn't stumble on a single one.

"Confirmed coordinates. Coordinates set on all available escape shuttles."

"How many Escape pods, Computer? How many left!" She yelped as a panel behind her sparked. She'd felt the heat of the over-heating circuitry lick at her back. Never mind it! She had a job to do. She was the only one left thinking of the mission.

"Nineteen escape shuttles remain operational."

She thought that over. "Four per pod should do it."

The ship rocked again, and tilted. She gripped the edges of the console again and shrieked. They were flipping over! Dear God, they were going to flip over!

The ship shook violently and righted itself again. The computer's voice rang out.

"Eighteen escape shuttles remain."

She had to rethink that one… Well, she could compensate. She shook her head, fringe of her curly redish-brown hair getting in her eyes. No matter. She locked on to the escape pods and transported their cargo to them. Every single one. Then she pressed the keys and ran to the transporter platform.

"Computer! One to Escape Shuttle Bay Ten, now!"

"Confirmed."

She was surrounded by the bright swirling lights as her molecules and atoms were transported across the ship. When she vanished, the Transporter Room exploded in light.

There was no Transporter Room now.

When she landed, the young woman ran for the nearest pod doors. She tripped. Looked at what she'd fallen on.

Ensign Green. His skull was cracked. Red liquid oozing with bits of brain matter…

"Oh God," she covered her mouth to keep from vomiting. No! No, focus. Remember what the Captain said.

_"Whatever happens," he had admonished, "Whatever these fucking Klingons do, don't let them get the cargo. Get this ship to her destination- we have to make sure every single one of those things makes it out and isn't found. Do you understand?"_

She climbed to her feet. Stepped in the goo coming from her former ship-mate's head.

"You can do this Lieutenant," she said as she got to the closest shuttle and opened the door. She climbed in, looked around. Three tubes in this one. Excess then. Enough room for her. Just barely.

She walked over to the controls and she pressed a button. "Computer, jettison. Deploy all escape shuttles to coordinates, now!"

"Deploying all escape shuttles."

Were there other survivors? She'd seen so many running around, she hadn't thought, really. Hadn't cared, honestly, about them. The Captain was dead, their Second Officer. Most of the bridge had gone up in the second attack. She knew the ship had had over fifty escape pods. Maybe they escaped… maybe the Klingons had picked them all off before they had gotten very far, certain their prey was no longer a threat.

She felt the pod jar slightly, and then looked out the viewing screen. The shuttle was shot from the ship and within minutes it was going through the black ink of space. She ran to look through a small window. Saw the ship, now distant. It flared as more of it went up in flames, while it fell to a planet- violet colored she noted- below. If anyone had still been on board, they were gone now.

Farewell, _U.S.S Eden_. Goodbye Captain Harlan.

Her fingers trailing on the glass, she turned away. Better see who she was traveling with, then. She walked to the nearest tube inside the cramped space and she cleaned off the glass. The face that looked up from it, frost clinging to the edges, made her laugh.

"Well, of course it'd be _you_, wouldn't it?" she said to the face. She checked the vitals on the tube. Still breathing. Brain functions normal. Steady. All good.

"You know," she said out loud, "You and I, we need to stop meeting like this." She checked the other pods. A woman. Another man. Both alive, still. Both deep asleep. All frozen in cryogenic slumber. She returned to the first tub, and leaned in. Placed her hands on the surface, careful not to touch anything that might disturb the sleeping man inside.

"It's enough to make a girl fall in love," her voice was soft as her brown eyes flicked over the prominent cheeks and the strong nose, the dark, slicked back hair of the man inside. She knew who he was. She'd be piss-poor at her job if she didn't. He was Khan Noonien Singh; former dictator, convicted terrorist, and singularly one of the most infamous men of all time. She knew what everyone in all the cryo-tubes were, and why the _Eden_ had had to take them. It didn't matter, honestly. He'd drawn her attention from the moment she saw their charges loaded in to the cargo bay.

She smiled, "Well, Khan… Don't worry. I'll make sure your people get to safety…" She sat back, and looked for the control panel. Typed in a few commands and a screen rose up. She brushed her hair with her hand, attempting some vain, very poor attempt to look less like she'd been through Hell, but well, that wasn't going to work now, was it? Then, she began to record.

"This is Lieutenant Marla McGivers, formerly of the _U. S. S. Eden_. Whoever receives this message, know this: Captain Archibald Harlan valiantly went down with his ship. His mission was carried out. And if you ever find this shuttle or my body, don't worry. I chose this. I chose to risk everything. I chose to follow the mission to the last. I choose to follow these people in to the depths."

She paused. What else to say? What else could she say?

"Goodbye."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews and the feedback! For those of you who have noticed, yes, I'm using the character, Marla McGivers, from TOS, though with the altered timeline, obviously some things have changed for her. However, her destiny still seems connected to a certain someone. Fans who have read _'To Reign in Hell'_ will no doubt recognize a lot of things. As I've only ready a summary and not the novel proper, I'm making up quite a bit. This is, primarily, Marla's story, as I imagine it.

Hope you all enjoy! On to Chapter 2!

* * *

The pain was the worst part.

After the adrenalin and the initial high of the 'fight or flight' mentality had worn off, she realized how much she hurt. Not just soreness from where she'd been tossed around the _Eden_ like a marble in a tin-can, but also from the burns on her back. She hadn't even realized that she'd been burned so badly until the stinging; the piercing white pain had begun to go through her. Red and hot, and so horrible it made her eyes water from the sheer force of it, made her look for any reflective surface to see the damage.

Marla had to use one of the windows, but it had been enough to get a look. Not large, not as bad as it felt, but she could see the singed holes in the back of her uniform, dotting from her upper to mid-back. Had to have been from the Transporter room. It was still unpleasant to see. And worse to smell, now that she could get the distinction of it from the neutral scent of the inside of the escape shuttle.

"I'll have to sleep on my stomach, then… Where's the med kit in here?" She knew that all the escape shuttles had supplies: food for five people for about a week, a basic medical pack, emergency oxygen canisters, and blankets for sleeping in. Things that could help, small items to hold a few stranded officers until help arrived or until they landed. She was thankful for those items now.

Marla opened the drawer that held the med kit, and took the small box out. Opened the lid. She took out a packet of ointment, and read it carefully. It was perfect for burns, but only up to second degree. It had a mild pain-numbing anesthetic in it, and that would be a blessing. She sighed, and just as she reached to remove her dress, she stopped. Her brown eyes turned toward the three other 'occupants'. Particularly…

"Shit. No time to be bashful," she scolded herself, but really, she couldn't help it. Something in the woman's brain said that stripping down, even if she kept her underwear on, even if it was to apply burn ointment, and especially with the other three people with her asleep, was still indecent. She sighed, and thought of a way to go about this without feeling wrong.

Eventually she opted for crouching in the floor, back facing the cryo-tubes, and she took her dress off. She opened the ointment packet, and applied the thick mixture on to her burns. Well, the ones she could reach, anyway. Some she knew from her reflection to be beyond reach. But she tried. Oh, and thank God, the pain-killer in the stuff was going right to work. Cooling, and numbing. She sighed. With all of that done, for now, Marla picked up her dress to have a look at it. Ripped, black marks in tandem with her burns, and traces of blood. She bit back bile and put the outfit back on. She looked at her boots, too, and finally pulled them off of her feet. The left still had blood in the tread. She tossed it away.

"Don't need shoes in here, right now, anyway, right?" she asked her 'fellow passengers'. "Decent, by the way. Sorry about that," she added as she walked back around to sit across from Khan's tube.

"Not that you could see me… Or hear me, for that matter." She ran one hand up through her hair, getting her fringe out of her eyes, and brushing back the rest of the tangled mess. And she didn't doubt that she was a mess, at all. She set her right elbow on her right thigh, leaned forward, chin propped on her palm. And just stared at the sleeping man.

"…Will you be thankful for this? Probably not… But better than blowing up in a starship, isn't it?" She had been off planet during the incident in San Francisco, but she knew well about it and the events leading up to that day. "Do you dream in there?" she asked him. "If you do, is it about destruction? About revenge? I'd dream about peace… But that's just me."

Talking to frozen people wasn't going to alleviate the possible boredom she knew would come. She activated the shuttles's computer system. "Computer?" When it chirruped in reply, she went on, "How long until we arrive at the programmed coordinates?

"Approximately 71.34 hours," the artificial voice answered.

"So, roughly three days. Oh, Lord," she groaned before she turned and flopped on to her stomach along the circular, room hugging seats. After a minute she lifted her head. Sat up. Went to the computer panel again and brought up the recording system once more. She wasn't going to attempt another transmission. She doubted her last one would be found, anyway. Instead, she turned it on, and after stating the Star Date, she began to speak.

"I'm keeping this brief journal of the trip to Ceti Alpha Five, original destination for the _Eden_, that… well, that I may pass the time and not go completely crazy from boredom." She laughed and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. "It isn't like anyone's going to look at these things anyway, is there? No, the truth is I'm probably going to die as soon as we land… Either our precious cargo will decide I'm useless and a detriment and kill me right off, or I'll probably anger some indigenous animal life and get eaten.

"I bet that you're wondering- If someone does come across this- why, if I'm so pessimistic about my survival, am I even here? Well, I suppose you could call it a touch of 'Irish Luck', as my grandfather might say. But, I'll be frank, I've never made the right decisions in all my life, and yet they always turn out well in the end. How? That's going to take some time to go through, but its three days, and I've got plenty of time… And a captive audience." She gestured to the tubes behind her, and then faced the screen again.

"So… let's get started. First bad decision: Going to school. Terrible idea. Not only did I get it in my head that I was intelligent enough to succeed in most of my classes- I don't count economics. Don't get me wrong, I'm good at numbers, but it can be boring- but I also decided that being something cool was right out of the question. No, I didn't want to use my knowledge to be a doctor, or to become a teacher and make all of our little ones just as bright. Nope. I wanted to be a librarian." She sighed through her nose, smiled at her recording screen, and let out a soft laugh.

"It all went down-hill from there."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: You've all been too kind with your words of praise, but I do also appreciate critique and discussion. It helps me improve and provide you all with a better story. But, I digress.

Sorry if these first few chapters are a bit dull. I promise we will get to more actiony type stuff!

* * *

After talking until she sounded as if her voice box was made of sand-paper, Marla stopped recording for the day and allowed herself to fall asleep. Stretched out , slightly curving due to the seating structure. How did they expect people to sleep in here, normally? Sitting up? In any case, she found a position that wouldn't cause her back any problems, as it had begun to ache and burn again, covered her legs and hips with one of the retrieved blankets, and then let her eyes fall closed.

Needless to say, her dreams were not all that pleasant.

_She was back on the ship. The _Eden _was under attack, and as she raced through the corridors, the vessel began to rotate. Rather than right itself or simple see-saw back and forth, it did a complete round-about spin, causing the ground to vanish beneath her, throwing her against the ceiling. After rolling around on the surface of the ceiling, which was now the floor, the ship continued its rotation, going right-side up again. Unfortunately for her, she was now over a corridor opening, and as gravity caught up, she fell down through the hole. She shrieked and tried to grab the edge of the doorway, but it was for naught. She was falling…falling… falling…_

Marla woke with a gasp, and grabbing on to the edge of the seats, her eyes darting everywhere while her brain tried to catch up. Not on the _Eden_ and plummeting, she assured herself. She was safe. Well, safe for now, but still safe. Slowly she lowered herself back down, and settled her head on her arms while she breathed in, and out. Making her body relax. Come down from the panic of the dream, and back in to calm and quiet. Slow. Easy. Safe. An hour later, she was asleep again.

_Hell. She was in Hell. She had to be. Her back was absolutely on fire, and she felt as if coals were being pressed up to red, seared off flesh and raw muscle every few seconds. Her arms were tied up, stretched open, to leave her back as exposed as possible, while her legs were wrapped around with thick cord. She screamed with each lick of flame; every touch of the hot black stones to her abused body made her cry. Even her tears seemed made of fire as they ran down, hot on her cheeks._

_"Somebody HELP ME!" she begged. But there would be no help. Faceless demons continued their torture of her form until she was pleading. Pleading for freedom. For relief from the pain. For death._

_As she gasped again from the pain, fingers stroked her cheek. Cold, icy, frost covered fingers. You would think something cold, compared to all of the fire, would be soothing. It wasn't. It was just as bad, if not worse. The chilling fingers left blue, frostbitten skin in their wake. A new burning to drive her insane…_

"Make it stop!" she cried out as she bolted up, causing her burns to throb as she moved again, and making a real scream come out of her throat. She looked around. No lakes of fire. No people made of ice and flame and shadow. No monsters. She was still in the escape shuttle. She turned her head around to key in to the control panel and check on the time. Not even, by Earth standards, morning. She'd slept…maybe a total of three hours. She ran a hand over her face. She'd begun to sweat.

"I'm never going to get enough sleep, tonight," she whimpered softly as she searched for the med kit and sought out the relief of the burn ointment. Dear God, she prayed silently as she stripped down again and applied it again to her back, let this make it easier to sleep this time.

Finished, and dressed again, Marla went back to the seat and stretched out to try sleeping one more time. This time, however, she turned her head to look at the tubes sharing space with her. To _his_ tube. Glare and frost kept the majority of his face from view, but she could just make out his profile. Prominent nose. Small chin, but it didn't detract from the masculinity of his face- and he was certainly masculine. Eerily alien and not quite human, and yet no less beautiful to look at. Yet, for all that, he had done terrible things. So many lives lost, in the name of hate and vengeance.

"Well," she said out loud. "They say Lucifer was the most beautiful angel of all, once. You could be one of the Fallen. Though I'd think twice before following you." Especially after that dream, she would think twice.

She continued to stare and study the sleek cryo-tube and its inhabitant, until her eyelids fell and again she was asleep.

_Darkness. There was nothing but thick, invading darkness around her. She could see her fingers. Those were quite clear. But anything just beyond her reach was unclear. It was swallowed by the black, light absorbing surroundings. She turned around. Dark. Left, right, up, down, just dark. Dark!_

_A breath hitched in her throat before she felt a touch of fingers to her shoulder. They were cold, but not frozen or icy. Just lacking the usual human warmth, the hand that pressed against her. She flinched, and then turned back around to look at the owner of that hand. A wrist and lower forearm came from the inky barrier around her. It turned, palm up, then curled its fingers slightly, and gestured for her to step in. Come along. Follow me._

_"No," she said to the hand and she stepped back. It went back in to the shadows, and returned, with another hand. How had he gotten behind her?! They clasped her shoulders, these hands, with long white fingers. The paleness of them seemed to chase the thick presence of the darkness away, and yet not fully make it dissipate. She stood still, on the verge of fear and fascination. The hands drew her back. She felt a solid form touching against her back. She jerked forward again- Her burns! It'll hurt! But there wasn't pain when the hands pulled her back again, and pressed her in to the mass. A chest. Broad. Wide. Her breath caught in her throat. She didn't move. Didn't breathe._

_Lips brushed against the nape of her neck. The sensation made a shaking breath escape her mouth and, guided by the bright white hands, she turned around. It was him. Oh, sweet God, he was everything she'd ever dared to want; every fantasy that her brain could ever conjure, the definition of temptation and desire. And he was moving. He was holding her. He was _awake_. The lovely man cupped her face in his long and elegant hands and he gently- oh, so gently- caressed her cheeks. Her neck. Trailing down along her body before strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her close._

_"Yes," she sighed, and as she returned the embrace, she felt something…leathery brush the side of her arm. She looked for the source. Wings? The joints of the wings were tipped in sharp claws, while the membranes were thin, as pale as his skin. Well… that in of itself wasn't too bad._

_It was the sharp stabbing pain that went through the center of her spine that made everything shatter. She jerked as the thing that had pierced her was yanked away, and she looked down as it brushed her legs in its retreat… A tail. A segmented scorpion's tail. The stinger's tip was glistening and dripping with the combination of its venom and her blood. She looked up at the man- the_ thing_- that had stung her, even as her legs gave out from under her and her body grew numb, dying from within. He looked down at her, face so very peaceful and calm, and eyes open. Eyes that were as black as the shadows around them._

"_Shhhh," he hushed her, as her lips opened, though no sound came out. He knelt down beside her and stroked her hair as the shadows began to seep around and seek entrance in to her body. Through her ears. Her eyes. Her mouth. Her nose. Any way it could consume her. He carded his fingers through her curls, lingered their tips at her chin. He pet at her as if she were the most precious thing in the world, as she was slowly dying and her corpse being filled with the darkness. "Shhh…"_

She jerked upward, drawing in a hard breath as she woke up. Head whipped around. She looked at the tube with the object of her nightmare-

_Her fantasy_

She scrambled to her feet and went to the other side of the escape shuttle, sitting and drawing her legs up to hug them to her chest while she watched all three as if any moment their lids would open, and they would rise like vampires to feast on her. She knew it was irrational, and she didn't give a single fuck about it.

Like hell was she going to go to sleep after that.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: The usual disclaimer- I own nothing! The 'Star Trek' franchise is Gene Roddenberry's, and the new films are all belonging to J.J. Abrams and the production companies that brought them to us.

* * *

"Welcome to Day Two of my attempt to keep my mind active," Marla said, recording her second 'journal entry'. "I'm not going to bother with the Star Date, it's just one day after the last one, after all. And I'm not going to apologize for my appearance or my attitude.

"To be honest, I've had the worst night's sleep, _ever_, and I'm in terrible pain from the burns on my back, but I can't put any more ointment on or else I'll use it all up, and then where will I be later?" She buzzed her lips and scratched the back of her neck. "I could honestly use a shower, but I know that would make my injuries hurt worse, but at least they could be cleaner. And I would feel less like a grease ball. Oh well. I'll deal."

She paused and glanced over her shoulder at the cryo-tubes.

"I know I must sound like a big brat. Bitching about all these inconveniences, and about not sleeping, when these people have been stuck in these tubes for hundreds of years, and have lost everything that they've held dear and cared about, and will wake up on an uninhabited planet with just the clothes on their backs and whatever they can scrounge from the escape shuttles… I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking I'm horrible."

She licked her lips. "I never thought I'd end up in a situation like this. Adrift in space, waiting for…something to happen, and all because of a split-second choice and my nagging sense of loyalty to my Captain." She swallowed. "…My Captain. Archie." She laughed, and held up her hands, gesturing occasionally and flicking her fingers a bit in fidgety movements as she talked. "God, Archie Harlan. He's the one who asked me to go on the _Eden_. Just got promoted, given this ship he's wanted to command for _ages_, and he asks me, "Marly,"- He called me Marly, a lot, just a nick-name, it didn't mean anything- he says, "Marly, let me request a transfer for you. I know you passed up the other assignment, and I think it's a complete waste for someone like you to be here when I need you up in space." So, I said yes. What could I do? I was flattered, and he was my friend, and…"

She stopped. Her eyes were stinging. She wiped at them, and took a deep, deep breath. It wouldn't help to cry. Crying wouldn't bring him back. It wouldn't bring anyone back.

"And now he's just dust in the middle of the stars," she finally said. Her voice cracked. Damn it! Why?! "Fucking 'Bird of Prey' came out of nowhere- This is NEUTRAL SPACE! It should have been Neutral Space, but they were there, and… Then the shields were gone. And then the _bridge_! The damn bridge just… Evaporated!" a sob burst out of her chest and she covered her eyes. There'd be no stopping this. The weight of all of that horror, the knowledge of the losses was finally crashing down on her. They were dead. All of them. They were dead.

"Oh, God, Archie, I'm sorry!" she whined against her hands as she cried in front of the screen. She let herself cry for him. Her friend, his dark blue eyes and the honey colored hair he'd comb so precisely each day, and how he exuded this aura of 'I'm your buddy', while also giving off all of the authority and the command that came with the title 'Captain', even before he'd been given it.

Ten minutes later she sniffled. She wiped her face clean, and looked at the screen. Eyes red. Splotches on a grimy face. Ugh. Screw it. She didn't care. She'd lost her friend.

"I made sure our assignment was carried out, though. God, more bad decisions that turn out good…" She licked her now dry lips. "If it weren't for Archie, I wouldn't be here. If it weren't for him… I would never have seen these people." She turned around once more and looked toward Khan Singh's tube.

"I remember the day we left. I was… following Archie through the Cargo-bay as the last containers were being loaded. He was debriefing us on the history of the people- Augments, he called them- and what… What _he_ did when they woke him up. What he did for us. What he did _against_ us…"

She whipped back to talk to the screen. "You know, I was offered a place on another ship. _The Enterprise_. I was tempted, but… Well, let's just say that her Captain's reputation precedes him. And, I hate to say this, but his First Officer is intimidating as hell. I've been around Vulcans, and yeah, they aren't ones to crack a smile, but he's got the biggest stick up his…

"Yeah. Well, both of those are just two more examples of the bad choices I make that seem like pretty good ones at the time. Turn down flying around space for five years, just exploring, and accept a dangerous mission to take a group of genetically enhanced humans off somewhere they can't be seen or heard of, or cause potential apocalypses. That's my life all in a nutshell… That and being bad with boyfriends."

She brushed her hair back, then said, "Now, I'm not about to go in to that, but… Let's just say that I've always been a sucker for the 'charming prince' types… Not that any of the men I've dated have ever turned out to be as princely as they appeared." She let out a hoarse giggle. "Well, seems I've gotten in to a reverse-'Snow White' story." She rubbed her forehead. "Though I doubt he's anything like the 'good and gentle' sort." She drew her bottom lip up between her teeth.

"Maybe that's why I can't get it in to my head… Even with those damn nightmares, I can't help but feel detached, in a way, to everything he did… It's like something out of a story- a fairy tale that just went wrong… The archives and accounts said he wanted peace, but… Who goes to all of that for _peace_?" She ducked her head. "But I can't help myself. Even when they're bad, even when they're dangerous, I can't stop myself from looking at beautiful things." She tapped her fingers idly on her thigh. "Guess in this case it got me in to a pretty sticky situation.

"Look… Whoever finds this, I don't regret this. I don't regret helping these people. I don't even regret helping _him_. I regret the loss of my friends. Of my fellow crew members… I regret the uselessness of what I am." She sighed. Then after running her hands through her hair, she said, "That's all for now. I'll record later. And tomorrow, hopefully, we'll arrive. And maybe these superhumans will give me a sporting chance."

She pressed a button on the console and the screen vanished, saving the recording.

Marla turned around, fully facing the tubes and she walked over to Khan's. She leaned forward, arms crossing and serving to keep her head from touching the surface of the pod. The image of her last nightmare did linger, but she really could not help herself.

"It's not fair, you know," she told the man behind the glass. "Then again, I doubt you'd like someone like me. You Augments, you're strong. Geniuses. Made to be better than the rest of us in every way. I don't think I could compete with any of your women… Not her, certainly," she added, one hand flicking to gesture to the woman in the escape shuttle with them. "And after all that Starfleet did to you, you'd probably die before letting someone like me near you. You'll probably sting me, like you did in my dream."

She shut her eyes, and sighed. "Maybe that's not so bad, though. At least if you have no reminders of us, you might find peace. Seek a better way for your people. I hope that you can. I want that for you, really. Everyone deserves a chance for peace… Even scorpion-batwinged monsters."

She pushed herself away from the tube and she walked around a bit. No use letting herself grow lethargic. If she couldn't sleep (yet) and didn't want to lose her voice recording more journals, she would at least get her legs moving. True, they were still sore from running through, and being thrown around in, a star ship, but she wasn't going to let those few muscles she possessed succumb to atrophy.

After the brief walk-about, she scrounged out a packet of bread from the food supplies. Bread was being generous when describing it, though. The flat, spongy stuff in the packet was nothing like proper bread. It was flat, and had absolutely no flavor.

Scratch that. I tasted like cardboard and cornstarch.

"Well," she said, after making some faces and breaking off about one third of the bread, "It's better than nothing. And I need to make it last." She broke the third-piece up in to three more pieces, and ate the rest of the 'first square'. She wasn't about to use more than was necessary. The people in stasis would need the escape shuttles' food stores in case they had trouble hunting the animals on Ceti Alpha V, and the thought of causing any of them any hardship from her presence was unacceptable. She'd only have one square for each 'meal', and then she'd use the rest later.

"You know what they say," she tossed in Khan's direction, "Beggars can't be choosers. To making the best of it." She raised the last bit of the bread in toast (_Terrible pun, Marla_, she scolded herself), and popped it in to her mouth.

Marla's second recording of the day culminated in her recounting of her favorite stories. She greatly lamented the loss of her favorite books- all now ash so miniscule that it couldn't even be seen in the vacuum of space.

"I loved those books. And my pictures," she told the recording. "I used to have all of these paintings, and this picture of the 'The Lady and The Unicorn', framed up in my room. And one of 'The Lady of Shallot'. Lots of fantasy novels, and history novels. And, obviously, Mom raised me on fables." She smiled. "I just… Oh, the wonder! The imagery, the beauty, the sheer…" She took a deep, deep breath, "Appeal of a world so unlike our own. I suppose a lot of people like space-travel for that aspect." She looked downward at her hands. "I didn't. In fact, the biggest reason I went from pure 'librarian' to 'Historian' was because I wanted… Well, I wanted to go back to the time when knights on noble steeds and benevolent kings walked the earth. The place so many of our legends started, rooted in reality, do a degree, but holding on to a bit of magic."

After letting those words sit for a bit, she let out a laugh. "God, listen to what I'm saying. I'm wishing I could be a princess or some damsel, waiting for a prince… I'm pathetic," she said quietly as she tilted her head and glanced back. "Be glad you're not awake to listen to my nonsense… You'd probably find me boring and predictable…" She tapped the controls to check the time.

"Ah. Time to sleep. Please, please, please, let me have good dreams tonight." She rubbed at her eyes, shut off the recording, and grabbed up her blanket. It took her well over two hours to ease in to sleep. But fear of what lay in your head was no match for the exhaustion that had been dragging her through the day.

_"Go back!" cried a voice, not unlike her grandfather's voice. Marla turned her head and saw a black bird in a cage, the bars made of ice, and heard it cry again. "Go back, go back, ye bonnie bride! Nor in this house of Death abide!"_

_She did not heed the words. Still following a trail of ashes, she dropped peas and bits of barley from her hand. Her bare feet went over a cold, marble floor as she approached a large, obsidian door. She pressed a hand against the door, and pushed. It would not budge. She dropped the rest of her grains and peas and pushed against it with both hands._

_She looked up at the door, and wondered why she wanted to open it so badly. Why? Well, because she had been told not to. She was curious. She wanted to see what he could be hiding… She didn't trust that it was something innocent if he wanted her out so badly._

_Who was _he_, and why did he warn her?_

_She didn't answer her question. She just pushed at the door with all of the strength in her petite frame. Slowly, the black stone slab slid backward. Wisps of cold air licked at her toes as she looked around the opening._

_Bodies. Countless bodies of women and men. People she'd known, strangers, either burned or stabbed or gutted. The stench of rot and blood, vomit and refuse wasn't as strong as it should have been, for they were all kept in perfect preservation- their moments of death forever captured- in the cold of the freezer. She yelped and covered her mouth as she gagged. She spun around, ready to flee, to go home to her aunt, to seek safety._

_White hands grabbed her, and a solid form blocked her path._

_Clothed in black velvet, the 'Baron' stood before her, his eyes dark and burning with rage. His face a cold and heartless mask._

_"I-I'm sorry!" she gasped. "Please! I'll forget! I'll forget it- I'll pretend I didn't see it!"_

_He said nothing as he pushed her backward. Toward the door. Toward the room of the dead._

_"PLEASE!" she begged him. "I'm sorry! PLEASE!"_

_In silence he opened the door, pushing it aside with ease, and he threw her in. She landed on a body- Archie's body! - And it broke in half under her weight. His cold fingers stuck to her still warm skin. She shrieked and pushed away from the corpses, and turned her head back._

_Her Bridegroom grabbed the door and pulled it back, ready to lock it away and wait for another bride._

_"WAIT! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"_

* * *

AN: Well, it'll be harder for our 'leading man' be very appealing to Marla, won't it? But remember, folks: Our girl makes bad choices often... And don't forget these recordings she's making. ;)

I'll post again soon. Next chapter: Ceti Alpha V!


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Thank you all so much! I'm glad that these first chapters have been entertaining. The dreams, well... That'll be explained

Also, it's been pointed out that I've gone a bit heavy on Marla liking fiction as opposed to actual historical figures. Here's my reasoning on that: First, this is something of a younger Marla. Yes, she loves the noble and good men and women from history, and she likes the 'romanticism' of the past, but, for this variant, what gets her there is a childhood love of fables. I'll get in to that later, don't worry. Second, I'm going with a slightly younger Marla- going in conjunction with a younger cast, total, of the new films. This is a woman who did NOT go on the _Enterprise_. She's made other choices that changed who she is, along with many other instances in the time-line. The changes that occur in time have a ripple effect, and they do make major alterations. The point of this story is to show that even with the choices we make, and the ones that are thrust on us, changing so much, there are some events, and some things, that go beyond. This is a story about fate, and how it catches up to us. This Marla is just as different from her original counterpart as she is the same, just as Kirk is as different and yet the same as his original counterpart, and Spock to Spock Prime, and, as we will see here, Khan to himself.

That said, here's where things get interesting, people! Finally, they meet! Enjoy.

"Day Three… Today we reach our destination. Even as I look outside, I can see the planets in the distance. In just a few hours we'll be at Ceti Alpha Five, and the mission will truly be complete."

Marla looked toward the screen, and she saw the dotting of planets. The Ceti Alpha system. The primary star- the Sun for the system- Ceti Alpha, sat in the epicenter of space, surrounded by six planets. Of all the planets, only the fifth was categorized as a 'Class-M' planet. Making it inhabitable, if a bit primitive. No humans or humanoid life-forms around, but plenty of animals and plant life. Marla had read up on the planets when they were told about the destination of their 'cargo', and what they would need to avoid, as well as what could be potentially taken and studied further. The archives on the whole planet were a bit antiquated, though.

She looked at each planet in its orbit, and after a bit of counting, found the fifth. Ah, it was quite nice. A blue, white, and slightly greenish swirling marble. It was pretty, she gave it that. What would it be like down there? Maybe like Earth, when it first began? After the Dinosaurs, and in the time of the first people? Would it be like when Adam and Eve walked together?

"Look at that," she said aloud to her 'co-passengers'. "That's going to be home, now." She stepped away. She'd left the recorder going. Well, didn't matter, did it? Last leg of the trip, and all. She sat back down in front of the recording screen, and looked at the three cryo-tubes.

"I'm not a psychologist or anything, and I'm certainly no dream analyst, but I know what all my nightmares are about… I'm… I'm still sorting through what's happened. Through loss. Through what I've been through, in mind, and body." She spared a thought for the burns; still sore, still hot, and likely to get infected eventually, if she couldn't clean them. "And it's telling me to stay far, far away from him." She bit on her lip. Worried at it.

"But I can't, now, can I? No. I was put on that ship. That specific ship. Carrying him. And I put him- all of them- in these escape pods. And I found THIS particular one." She turned back to the screen. "Now, I know it's really silly to believe in fate and destiny and all that, seriously. But… This can't all be coincidence, can it? And, I know he's dangerous- I know he could very possibly kill me the moment he's awake, but I… Honestly… Don't care."

She laughed about that. Just a few hard giggles. "I really, really don't care! If I can get them there, safely, and give them a chance… Then maybe it will be worth it. The loss of the _Eden_, these nightmares, this… All of this!" She waved her hands, as moving her arms too much caused her back to ache a bit more, "It'll be worth it. It will be so worth it." She smiled at the screen. Yes. It'd be worth it.

She passed the last few hours with a bite of the spongy-bread. Then she sang some of her favorite songs, recording those, as well.

"I'm no Diva, but I'm not too bad, hmm?" She asked the screen. Mostly, she did things to keep her mind away from other thoughts. If she thought about them too much, she might consider that the journey was going smoothly, all things considered.

Far too smoothly.

As the escape shuttles began to descend down, through the atmosphere and toward the planet waiting below, Marla felt a building tension. She could call it anticipation, for she certainly felt that, but she could also feel a tightening knot in the pit of her stomach. She fussed and fidgeted about the shuttle as best she could. Circled right around to look out the screen, again. They were still in the upper regions of the white atmosphere, still in the clouds, with the land not quite visible.

"Just a bit more," she said, letting out a long breath.

Within seconds, the calm and the tension burst, with a hard, horrible shaking and loud THU-BOOM. She screamed, lost her footing, and hit her side and back as she fell. She screamed again as her injuries were agitated. Red lights and blaring buzzers- warning alerts- went off.

"Escape Shuttle Fourteen Damaged.

"Auto-pilot damaged. Switching to Manual Flight Control."

"Great!" Marla said through gritted teeth as she climbed up from the floor. She ran to the panels that sat just below the view screen, and she pressed a button. A segment of the seats pulled out, giving her room to sit and she reached for the steering controls.

"Well," the woman said, "If I have to steer, I'll have to steer. I haven't come this far to fail now." She pulled a lever down, twisted it. Pressed several keys on the pad, and the shaky pod began to level out. She pressed more keys, turned another lever, murmuring, "Remember your training." Coolant from reserves went to the overheating circuitry that was going mad from the hit- what had collided with them?

"Computer, what hit the pod?"

The system was silent a moment.

"Escape shuttle collision with sediment and rock deposits, combined with alien alloy."

"Wonderful," she muttered, "Beaned by a shooting-star." She continued to work at the controls, until the shuttle's descent finally slowed down, and she looked at the screen. They'd passed the cloud barriers while they were descending, and now they were in the trees. The very tops of them.

"Not quite safe yet," she said.

She steered, having to swerve, but still feeling jerks and jutters as the pod hit the tops of those trees and knocked them down in their wake. She twisted the first lever, pushed it up. Finally, the pod shook as it hit the surface and skid along the ground. She twisted the second lever again. Hit more keys.

"Come on," she urged. "Come on! Stop! Stop!" She watched plant life and rocks as they passed by; branches banging and smacking against their vessel. Steadily their speed decreased and with a horribly disorienting shudder throughout the pod, they came to a stop.

She waited. Ten seconds. Thirty. Sixty. Ninety. Then she rose from the seat and she looked around. The windows were still in-tact. The wall to the left was dented in. Not very good. She went over to the door.

"Time to see what's out there," Marla said as she reached for the release valve to open the pod's door-hatch.

It wouldn't budge.

"…No." She tried again. Pushed against it. "No, no, no, no, no!" She tried once again. "This… Can_not_ be happening." She leaned forward and pressed her head against the door. "God, why does this happen?" She groaned and thumped her hand against the impenetrable door. She had no idea what was causing this! Faulty circuitry from the impact? Something fell in front of it, blocking the way? She pushed herself away and shook her head. She looked at the windows. Those were too small. The view screen wasn't a window-proper, so she couldn't very well break that. She sighed. No way out.

No. Not quite. She might not be strong enough to open the door, whether the circuits were fried or there was something in the way, but… The others were.

She looked to the sleepers.

To Khan.

"This is crazy," she said to herself. "… I suppose I could open one of the others." She moved toward the sleeping woman's container. "A woman would be easier to talk to. Easier to reason with…" She stopped, and walked right up to the man, instead.

"Here we go, then. Awake, dear heart… Awake."

She keyed in the codes on the keypad at the side of the tube. Then stepped back as the lid slid up, and away, releasing cold air with a soft hiss. As she moved close to look in, she watched color slowly come to the pale skin. Still white, he was, but now it looked more like cream rather than unyielding marble. His eyelids twitched. His chest began a slow rise and fall that sped up quicker with each breath drawn in. Dark eyebrows came closer together, causing his brow to wrinkle.

Marla leaned in, trembling. She extended her hand out and she placed her fingers against his broad chest.

"…Ca- Captain Singh?" she said, her voice catching. She swallowed, moistened her throat, tried again. "Captain Khan Singh? Captain Singh?"

The moving eyelids snapped open. Time slowed down. The eyes looking up at here weren't the dark, empty things from her nightmares, and they were unlike any color she'd ever imagined him having. They were pale, and bright, and, well, to be quite honest, they had no proper color. They could be grey, but there was a tinge of blue in there, but if she had to give them a proper shade, she would call it ice. His eyes were the color of ice.

Time started up again, and when it did, it was fast. His hands snapped up- right one clamping on to her arm, left one gripping her neck- and he was up, out of the cryo-tube, snarling, full of wrath and distrust. He slammed her smaller frame against the wall, her back pressed against it, burns protesting against the contact. His hold on her neck kept her from even crying out in pain. Not a sound came from her, though tears slowly leaked from her eyes.

_Well, shit_, she thought. This was it. This was how she went. After everything, after she'd managed to get them to the planet, she'd die after waking up their leader. Well, it would be worth it, right? She'd thought so, before. Now he could open the escape pod, wake up his people… Build a new life. She could let him kill her in a fit if that happened. What could she do about it, anyway? She couldn't fight him off, now, could she? That was impossible. She met his hate-filled stare, able to see in spite of the pain-tears that filled her eyes and went along her cheek.

And just as quickly as he'd snatched her up and had her at the cusp of death, his left hand relaxed. Right hand loosened. He still held her up off the ground- Oh, mercy, he had her a good foot up! - But now she could breathe easier. She could speak, a bit. But she stayed quiet.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice slow and deep. It rumbled in his throat. Was that from his sleep? Or was it natural? He asked her more questions. "Where am I? What is happening? Why was I asleep again?"

She tried to swallow and she squeaked out, "I-I'm Lieutenant McGivers. _S.S. Eden_. Historian… Ah," she took a short breath. "Could you put me down? Please?"

He seemed to be thinking that over. But he did set her down on the floor, and released her arm- no doubt she'd have a bruise, she could already feel it there- and her neck. She took a deeper breath, and cleared her throat. It hurt. She'd be fine, though. Maybe.

"Thank you," she croaked. She rubbed gently at her neck. "Um… Yes, you're… You are on Ceti Alpha Five. M-Class planet. My ship was transporting you and your crew to this planet for safe keeping."

"My crew?" he asked. Then his voice snarled as he told her, "My crew is dead. _Commander_ _Spock _killed them." He said the name as if it were the vilest thing in the universe.

Marla shook her head. "No. No, look." She pointed behind him. He turned his head and went still. Then he darted to the second tube, and looked in the glass.

"Joaquin," he said. She supposed that was the other man's name. Khan looked to his left, and peered at the sleeping woman. His voice was soft, and his expression eased. He looked in awe. "Suzette," he named the sleeping woman.

"They're not the only ones," Marla told him. "There are- there are seventeen other shuttles outside, all with your people in them. Every stasis-tube. All seventy three, including yours." She felt her own lips curving up in a smile.

Khan's attention returned to her. He walked over to the petite woman, staring intently down at her. His voice was harsh again. "Why aren't we dead? Why send us to a planet? What is the aim? What is the plan?"

Marla was at a loss of what to say.

"Where is your ship? Why are we in escape shuttles?" he demanded of her. "Tell me now, Lieutenant!"

Responding immediately to an order, she answered him. "Th- The mission was to take your people and leave you on a planet that was capable of sustaining human life, but keep you far from Earth, far from technology. The Federation deemed you too dangerous, but there were protests to killing you."

"By whom?" he inquired.

"…James Kirk," she answered him. "And others. They didn't want more death. Not for one person's actions." She held on to his intense gaze. He looked as if he were processing all of this, turning it around in his head.

"What happened to your ship?" he asked, his voice soft, but still on edge.

"We… we were attacked. Just outside of Regula One. Three days away. Klingon Bird of Prey came out of nowhere, and… declared we were in their territory."

"Regula," he murmured. His eyes flicked away from her, seemed to be calculating. "That is in Neutral Space."

"I know," she said. "We told them that. They still opened fire!" she looked down. She felt the sadness again. "We didn't… We didn't stand a chance when we lost the shields."

"Look at me," he ordered her, though it wasn't a barked order, this time. This was softly spoken. Clear. She raised her head and again was the focus of his ice-eyes. "Why did you wake me first? Why did you stay in here? You should have run."

She unconsciously bit at her bottom lip, and then said, "Well, you see… The escape shuttle had a… An accident on descent. I think a meteor hit it." God, it sounded so stupid, but it was true. She thought it might be anyway. Something had hit them. "I had to land it manually, and-"

"Manually? A Historian?" he asked, surprised, genuinely. Curious. "Alone?"

"Well, yes, we're all trained to at least steer an escape shuttle or landing craft, you know," she told him, a twinge of annoyance in her voice. It left as she continued explaining, but at least now she didn't feel as afraid of him as she had when he'd had her by the neck. "And when we stopped, I tried to open the door, but it won't budge. I figured, you're stronger, you're bigger, and you could easily get it open, regardless of what's got it shut. I can't do that."

He didn't say anything yet. Thought it over. Looked toward the door. Then he approached it.

"And out there, the rest of my crew is safe?"

"Unless they hit something, too, I'd say so. And I hope they made it down easier than we did," she told him as she followed him to the door. He grabbed the handle, and then pressed his other hand against the hatch.

"Stay back," he told her. Then Khan pressed against the hatch, and it made a whining, creaking, metallic noise, followed by the sounds of heavy things falling backward. The door opened wide.

Outside, the planet was awash in the green of plants. Tall trees standing- and quite a few fallen in the wake of their landing- with countless bushes and tall grasses on the ground. They climbed out of the shuttle, to take in the rest of the scenery. In the distance, Marla and Khan saw mountains, some so high their tops were obscured by dense clouds. The tiny woman in blue stepped forward, moving slowly around the fallen trees that had barred their exit. Her feet were still bare, but she didn't seem to be minding that at all.

"What brave new world," she said, "Oh wonder…"

"_The Tempest_," Khan muttered.

"Yeah," Marla answered. "My favorite play. Always wished I could end up on Prospero's island."

"Perhaps you have," he said, but his voice trailed off. She heard quick footsteps, and suddenly he had her by both arms.

"What-?!" she exclaimed, and tried to break away from him. Was he going to hurt her now? Was he going to kill her now that he had his questions answered and the door wasn't blocked?

"Quiet," he commanded, and he squeezed his hands on her arms. Not enough to hurt, not like before. But she took the hint and stayed still. "What happened to your back?" he asked her.

"Oh…" she'd actually stopped thinking about them when they were working at the door. Well, she'd stopped thinking much about them when he had been interrogating her.

"What happened?" he insisted, voice tense. "Tell me."

"I," she stammered, feeling somehow ashamed of what he was looking at. "I got them in the Transporter room," she told him. "One of the walls opened. Cables came out. It's nothing."

He didn't say anything, but soft hum went through his throat. He pulled her with him, turning her around, and ushered her back in to the pod.

"Wait- Wait! What are you doing?" she asked him.

"You can't keep walking around with open wounds on your back. Sit," he pushed her toward the seats. "Strip down. Where is your medical kit?"

"Wha- Whoa, hold it!" she said, her cheeks going pink. "What are you thinking? Why does it matter?"

He glared at her, reached for her, and clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"I have never heard of this system before, let alone this planet. You are your ship's Historian, which means that you have at the least a base knowledge of this terrain and the indigenous animals. I _need you_, healthy, and capable of coming with me to find the rest of my crew. Now strip, sit, and let me treat you."

She felt a nerve in her cheek twitch twice before she turned from him, and pulled off her uniform. She held the fabric against her front, then sat down, and told him where the medical kit was. Her back was exposed to him.

"The bra as well," his voice rumbled.

"_What?_" she whipped her head around and she saw that he had a needle in his hand. He was drawing out…Blood. His own blood. He was taking his own blood…

"I said, 'the bra as well,' Lieutenant," his tone was a clear. She was not to question or second guess him. She was to obey.

Obey she did, though her fingers fumbled very clumsily as she reached one hand around to fuss with the hooks, and the other held her dress against her chest and lap. But she got it open. She clutched at the things preserving her modesty, and she waited, feeling cold as the air from outside entered the pod's inner chamber.

She heard him walk over, and felt the seat beside her dip as he sat down. She shivered as his hand, still cold, touched her bare skin.

"Be still," he whispered. His breath was a soft puff against the back of her neck as he crouched over her. She felt the pinch and pressure of the needle going in to her. Her breath caught, and her chest ached as she held it.

"Don't do that," he scolded her. "Breathe." She did and felt him withdraw the needle. Slight rustle of movement. Then she felt the press again. What was he doing?! Injecting her with his blood?

"W-what are," she hated how frightened she sounded. "What are you doing?"

"Treating you," he answered, as if it were that simple to understand. She didn't ask anything else. He repeated the whole thing two more times, and then he stood up, and tossed the dirty needle in to a small plastic bag from the kit.

"I am finished," he said. "Get dressed. Are there phasers in this vessel?"

She dropped her dress, and worked to get her bra re-hooked and secure again, then got her clothes on. Sought out her boots in the floor. "Um," she answered him, "Yes, I believe so. About five, I think."

"Food?" he inquired. He moved around the shuttle's cabin, taking things. He pressed several keys, and a data disk- the one from the recording system, popped up. He took it, then took out the reserve ones. Pocketed them. Put them inside of the medical kit, along with the spare tricorder. She'd forgotten that she had left her own back on the _Eden._

"Yes."

"Good." Khan went to the shuttle's computer, and she watched as he attempted to pull up the life-force scanner. Immediately the screen lit up with the red letters, 'Error. Malfunction.' Khan then walked back to Marla, now decent, and he cupped her chin in his right hand. He wasn't rough, this time. It seemed he was now quite conscious of how 'fragile' she was, compared to him. "I'm going to wake up my officers, here. Then we will take the phasers- the three of us, Lieutenant. Not you- and pack provisions. Then you will lead us in to the forest out there, and help me find the rest of my crew. If you run, I will order my officers to kill you. If you attempt to harm us, the same. If you follow my orders, and stay close; if you do everything that I tell you, I promise that no harm will come to you. Do you understand?"

She didn't need to think about that. Really, she didn't have any options about this. With that knowledge, and the fact that he could kill her at any moment, and hadn't, even when he had the best chance, she decided that the smartest thing, the best idea- regardless of good or bad- was to do as he said.

"Yes, Captain."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Thanks again, folks, for the various reviews, likes, and even the suggestions and tips. I'll be sure to consider them all as I write this story.

This chapter is a special one. We get to see a touch of Khan's POV. A warning though: do keep in mind this character's mentality and change of personality in this timeline. He's still Khan Noonien Singh. But, well… Just wait and see.

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

The cryo-tubes were exceptionally misleading, in terms of the size of the people within them.

This should have been very clear to Marla, since Khan, with his expansive chest, and very long body, was encased inside of his and the tube seemed so much smaller in comparison to the man himself. Clearly she was mistaken about the capacity of what the tubes could hold, especially after the man known as Joaquin Weiss was woken up.

Weiss was on par with a giant. Even taller than Khan, at a possible 6'6, with dark, nut- brown skin and a round head, his hair shaved cleanly off of its surface. He looked as if he could bench-press their escape shuttle on one hand, easily, and that his thick thighs could crush a person's skull between them, like a grape between fingers. He looked, entirely to Marla, like a brute who would beat you to within an inch of your life first, and ask questions later. The way he looked at her with suspicion and wariness told her he just might, if provoked.

The woman, Suzette Ling, was something different. Shorter, nearer to Marla's height, but with lean, elegant muscles throughout her body. Asian in descent and baring round features in her face and shoulders. But there was strength in her. Equal to the two men who she stood with, there was no doubt about that. Khan greeted them both with respect, even happiness. He handed them the phasers, explained how to operate them, and quickly de-briefed them on their situation.

"You have been asleep for over three-hundred years," he told them, "But I have been awakened and submerged again, very recently. We've been brought to this planet, stranded, and now we must find the others. I need you two, and it is a lucky thing, my friends, that we are here, together." He smiled at them. It caused his eyes to crinkle at the corners. Marla felt a little twist in her chest. He'd never look at her like that, would he? No, certainly not.

"What about her?" asked Ling. Marla dropped her head down, avoiding the woman's gaze. "Is she hostile? A prisoner?"

Khan's eyes flicked to the Starfleet woman, and he walked over. Put one hand on her shoulder. Firm, but on par with the grip an ordinary human would put on her.

"She is our guide," he said. "She has better knowledge of this planet than we do, and therefore, we will be using her to locate the rest of our people."

"But what if she lies? Leads us to some sort of danger?" Ling obviously didn't trust her any more than Weiss did.

"I doubt she will do that," Khan answered her with amusement in his voice. Marla's head came up to look at him.

"We don't know her. She's some 'future woman', and you expect us to trust her?" Marla might not have liked it, but Ling had a valid point.

Marla didn't wait for the Captain to speak for her. "If I did that," she told Ling, "I'd be dead, too. Either by whatever I'd be 'leading' you to, because there are a few dangerous animals on this planet that even Starfleet archives likely didn't discover, or because Captain Singh has ordered my death." Ling met her eyes, and the superwoman's thin and curved left-eyebrow went up.

"Give me some credit," Marla said, "I'm not _that_ stupid."

"There, are your questions quite satisfied, Commander Ling?" Khan asked the other woman. Ling shot one last 'warning' look at Marla before she answered.

"Yes, Sir."

"Very well," Khan said, stepping away from Marla. "Lieutenant, you'll stay behind me. Suzette, keep an eye on her. If she runs, or tries attack, neutralize her. Joaquin, cover from behind." With packs of food divided between each of them, and the men carrying two phasers- Ling had the last one- the group climbed from the escape shuttle, and looked along the trail of broken trees and deep-carved ground.

"Since we were in a general formation with the rest before we were knocked off course, the first thing would be to follow through here," Marla said, gesturing to the debris ahead of them.

"And a wider search after that, if we do not find them," Khan said aloud. He looked back at the others. "Come. We must cover as much ground as possible before nightfall."

"Whenever that is. And if this little gnat doesn't slow us up," Ling added, using the tip of her phaser to jab at Marla's side.

"I'm not a gnat," Marla retorted, moving forward.

"No, you're a moth that got too close to a candle," Ling said, once she got a look at Marla's back. "Burned your wings off, little bug?"

"I'm not-!"

"Lieutenant!" snapped Khan. Marla closed her mouth and winced. He grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her up until she was a step behind him. "Keep your mouth shut, and do not speak unless I want you to, or you see some danger that my Commanders do not. Understand?"

Marla's teeth ground a bit in her shut jaw, but she answered. "Yes, Sir."

"Good. Move. Now," he ordered them all. There were no more arguments for now. They went on.

It took quite a bit of the day to go even a few miles. Not only because of the magnitude of the damage from their impromptu landing, but because, true to Ling's concerns, Marla did slow them down. The three Augments were faster in their strides, and more capable of climbing over the bigger obstacles. Much of their time was eaten away by both stopping and waiting for her to catch up, slowing their pace to keep even with her, or helping her over anything that got in their way. It was tedious, long, and due to the warm climate of the planet, it left all of them drenched in sweat.

By the evening, though the sun set brought with it a slight relief from the heat, it also brought insects that, like the mosquitoes of Earth, liked to fly in and take nips and bites of tender skin. Due to their resilience, the Augments seemed slightly immune to the bugs. Either that or their biting didn't bother them much. For Marla, however, it was as if they pests had decided she was a feast. Every few seconds she had to smack at them.

Apparently her smacking at the insects was more of a nuisance than the bugs themselves, as after twenty solid minutes, Khan stood up and told Weiss, "Joaquin, I need a branch."

The bigger man went to the debris near their 'camp', and he pulled out a long, large tree branch. He pulled it over to them, and Khan fiddled with his phaser.

"Stand back," he told him. Then he fired. The end of the branch was incinerated, but it left smoldering and small flaming bits of branch left over. The Augment men took these and added more kindling to them until they had a proper fire going. The heat not only would help with any cold, but it began to make the offending pests fly off.

That taken care of, it would seem, Khan said to them, "Eat. Suzette, you and Lieutenant McGivers will sleep, Joaquin and I will take the first watch."

"With all due respect, Sir," Ling said, "I've had enough sleep," she smiled. That caused Weiss to crack a half-smile. Just one corner of his lip going up. Khan let out a brief chuckle. Marla couldn't stop a fleeting flutter of jealousy from seizing. This woman could make him laugh, and she couldn't. It didn't seem fair.

Don't be a child, she chided herself. Of course it was. He knows this woman, has a history with her. He and Marla hadn't met until a few hours ago, and from that first moment the animosity had been prevalent. It was more than fair. That didn't change the fact that it hurt, though.

Marla opened up her pack of food- the one she'd opened before they landed- and she took out her pre-rationed bread. Opened a small canister of stewed tomatoes. While she ate her meager meal, she glanced across to where the Augments sat, together. Ling did keep a good line-of-sight on Marla, but also managed to converse and even reminisce with Weiss and Khan. Well, Khan was reminiscing. Weiss would add a word in, now and then, or grunt in either agreement or contradiction, depending on what was said.

She had never felt so completely alone before. Not even when her parents had died, had she felt so lost. The food in her mouth felt heavy and thick, like glue, now. She finished what she could, cleaned up, then stretched out on the ground to sleep, laying on her stomach out of habit now. She kept her head turned from her 'companions'.

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

In spite of his capable Commander's words, Suzette had succumbed to the need to rest, and reset, and now was asleep near the Starfleet woman, while Joaquin stood like a perfect sentry across the camp. It really had been a grand stroke of luck that his two most trusted crew members, his strongest fighters and the surest shots of all his men and women, were in the same escape vessel with him. Indeed, luck seemed to be favoring them lately. Not only were the best of them together, but they had also been given someone to steer their shuttle from danger.

Yet, he could not deny how useless that woman seemed.

He had rationalized his need to keep her alive by saying they needed her 'knowledge', but he could easily be able to gauge and reckon on anything that might bring them harm in the night; any threat that was possible in this foreign wilderness. They didn't need her.

His first impulse had been to kill her. She was a Starfleet lackey, trained to follow orders- oh and how quickly she did, even for him- and obviously unused to any real work aside from reading useless accounts and archived information. Before the reveal of his compatriots' safety, he would have easily snapped her neck because she was one of the _murderers_ who had destroyed all he had held dear.

Well, it was a mercy on her part that he had not. That he had been more curious about why she had woken him than he was wanting to kill her... Never mind that she had showed no fear when he held her thin neck in his hand...

No, this woman… She intrigued him. Something about her nipped at his curiosity. She had steered their shuttle- said it was standard training, too- and she had taken the care to save him and all of his people. What was she thinking? Was it a duty to her ship's original mission? Duty to the Federation? She had said she couldn't open the hatch, before, but she need not have woken him. A Historian would know all about him- she did know his name, after all. She should have woken Ling. Run off and hid or attempt a distress call. Yet the woman hadn't even made use of the tricorder stored in the shuttle.

On that note, he took the small device, and flipped it open. He took the first of the data-disks, the one that had been inside the console, and he placed it in. He took the small ear-piece attached to the device, and inserted it in to his ear canal, then hit the playback command. Anything recorded on the vessel would play out for him.

"_This is Lieutenant Marla McGivers, formerly of the _U. S. S. Eden_," _Yes, he knew that much. Had she sent any coordinates? Any hint of where a possible station or other Starfleet vessel might be? He needed to know if anyone might be coming to kill them. Finish them off. What were they planning?

"_Whoever receives this message, know this. Captain Archibald Harlan valiantly went down with his ship."_

Archibald Harlan? He hadn't known of any such Senior Officer during his time. Must be a new one, then. Likely instated while he had been in stasis, again. Rebuilding their pitiful ranks, were they? Obviously not up to par, if a Klingon Ship- he doubted it was one, or if it was, that it was manned by actual Klingons- had taken them down before they reached their destination.

_"…if you ever find this shuttle or my body, don't worry. I chose this. I chose to risk everything. I chose to follow the mission to the last. I choose to follow these people in to the depths."_

That caught his attention. She _chose_ this? Well, certainly she could have somehow gotten himself, Suzette, and Joaquin, on to another escape shuttle. Perhaps have chosen a different one to ride in, herself. But really, she wasn't choosing_ them_, was she? He didn't think that at all. She wasn't choosing to 'follow them'. She was choosing to run and stay alive, rather than die on a burning ship. That's all she had done. Such a self-righteous creature.

But then why suffer those burns as she had? Why go to such trouble in the name of 'duty'?

His eyes went to her now. Willowy. Tiny in so many ways, and inferior. Yet she had shown cleverness. Split-second decisions that came out rather impressively well. That, then, was what had intrigued him. She was not merely intelligent, she was clever. Well, so far, she seemed so.

"Marla McGivers," he mused softly. "You had better be worth the trouble."

He turned off the recording, and took the earpiece out. Then he went back to his watch.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Thanks to everyone for enjoying my story so far! It's not done yet, not in the least! I'll do my best to appease old fans and new alike even more as I go forward. Enjoy Chapter 7! Be on the lookout for more Shakespeare quotes!

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

The sun was warm as its earliest rays hit her face the next morning. Slowly, the woman raised her head. She stretched, and lifted her arms, and…

Her back didn't hurt. She dropped her arms and tried to twist her head a bit, and tweaked her right arm back, feeling for the burns. She felt the holes in her uniform, but, her skin underneath… Had healed. Overnight, they had healed entirely! She felt the slight wrinkle of scar-tissue, but…they were closed. Not even scabbing apparent.

"Are you trying to turn yourself in to a pretzel, Future Woman, or are you having a seizure?" asked Ling, laughing at Marla's acts of contortion. Weiss stood, tall and statuesque and having not a single emotion even guessable on his face.

"I did tell you I was treating you," Khan said. He was sitting, cross legged, elbows set upon his knees while his forefingers were steepled together under his nose. He untangled his legs and stood up. "Our blood is regenerative and when applied to damaged, or dead tissue, can recreate it." He extended his hand down to the young woman.

Marla looked from his hand, up to his face. Then back down again. He'd been such a bully yesterday. What was he doing today?

"He isn't poisonous and you're not going to be bitten, Future Woman," shouted Ling, her hand going up and flicking silky, long black hair over her shoulder.

Marla glared at Ling, and took Khan's hand, letting him easily pull her up to her feet.

"Your bruises are gone as well," Khan told her, offhandedly. Marla reached up and touched the skin of her throat, and felt no welts or bruises from when he had started to choke her.

"So distrustful," Ling said, frowning.

"Wouldn't you be, in her place?" Khan asked the other woman as he grabbed his pack and slung it over his shoulder. He took out his first phaser, and then said, "We need to go. Keep up today," he told Marla as he passed her. The Starfleet woman fell in to step behind him almost instantly, with Ling flanking her left side again, and Weiss covering their rear.

By mid-morning, they had managed to cover a lot more ground, and they had finally passed most of the fallen trees from the landing, though some still lay across their path. When climbing over this time, however, the three superhumans didn't stop for Marla. They scaled each tree easily. Marla either had to dart around, or climb. The fifth time she had had climb over a tree, she had called out for them to stop.

"This thing is huge! I can't just jump over it like a mountain goat or something!"

"Keep up, Lieutenant, or go back to the Shuttle and stop wasting my time," Khan yelled at her, then. "Or would you rather I have Joaquin end your complaining, now, and save us all the trouble?"

Marla's eyes went wide, and she ground her teeth hard. She grabbed the neared branch, and used it to help her haul herself up. It took her time but she got over it, dropping down on the other side, and running over to the other three.

"Is that how you managed to run an empire, oh Great Khan of the Asian Continents? No wonder you were called 'The Best of the Tyrants'. You tease and bully your people in to submission."

Ling jabbed the phaser in to Marla's side. "He is a magnificent King, and better than any weak and useless leader you'd ever know, Future Woman," the stronger female growled.

"I made certain that my people were made stronger," Khan retorted to Marla, ignoring Ling's words of praise for him. "You know my history," he observed.

"Of course I know. It's my job," Marla snapped back. "I've studied the histories of Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar Prime. Whenever I'm sent off-planet or on a mission I research to the fullest extent the histories of our destination, when available, and I keep a catalogue of appropriate appearance and dress, ceremonial, antiquated, and recent, of various civilizations and cultures, and sample at least four examples of their most common and important pieces of literature and art."

"So, in short, you have no life," Ling said with a smile on her lips.

"Suzette," Khan said to Ling, a clear warning in his tone. To Marla, he said, "You have me at a disadvantage, Lieutenant, knowing about my history, ancient and recent, but I know nothing about you, save that you're a dreg from a ship that blew up on a failed mission."

Marla shot a glare at Khan. "We didn't fail! I got you here, didn't I?"

"Yes," Khan said, the word drawn out and ended with a hiss on the 's'. "And you also managed to separate me from the rest of my people. Bravo, Lieutenant McGivers, Bravo."

The Historian's fingers curled in to fists at her side. If she wasn't sure she'd break her hand on him, she'd punch him.

"So, if you study every planet you're going to," Ling asked her, "What's that up there? A moon?"

Marla's gaze went up and she saw the yellow planet in the sky, slightly obscured by the white of clouds in their own, and fading at the edges in to blue.

"That's Ceti Alpha Six. This planet and that one have a synchronized orbit around Ceti Alpha, and so for several months, it appears in the sky."

"Will it obscure the sun or cause any climate difficulties?" Khan asked her.

"No, but-" Marla started, but Khan cut her off.

"Then it isn't important."

Marla's fisted hands shook slightly. "…I think it's quite pretty to look at," she muttered.

"Give me useful information," Khan commanded. "What do you know of the local flora and fauna?"

"Um, it's… The species that were recorded are similar in their development to the Pleistocene Epoch. Animals of near gigantic sizes, and very aggressive, save for the Ceti Bison."

"Bison?" Khan asked.

"Grazing mammals, a lot like the bison from Earth, hence the name."

"Well, if we find one we can have a steak dinner," Ling said, humor in her voice. Marla wondered if she was actually hopeful for that. Honestly, Marla wouldn't turn down a good steak right now, either.

"Does that sound good to you, Joaquin?" Ling asked, turning her head to look at their rear-guard.

Joaquin had disappeared. They stopped.

"Shit," Ling swore as she backtracked. Khan ran with her, and Marla followed them both.

"Joaquin!" shouted Khan. "Joaquin, REPORT!"

"Joaquin?" Ling called out.

"Mr. Weiss?" Marla tried helping. The sounds of phaser fire caught their attention. The phaser blasts were followed by a thunderous roar.

"What is that?" Khan, asked, his voice quiet. Then he whirled on Marla, and shouted at her. "What is that?!"

"Sma- Smi- Smilodon Fatalis," she stammered out. Another roar and louder blasts came out of the woods.

"Fucking Common English!" Ling snapped.

"Sabertooth Tiger!" Marla shouted. As if on cue, Weiss ran back through the tree line, followed not a moment later by the hulking, shaggy, feline beast.

The large Augment-male lifted both of his phasers up and fired at the Sabertooth, hitting on its side and its leg. The creature roared again. Its serrated tusks glistened with saliva and blood before it attempted to pounce on him. Khan and Ling joined in the fray by shooting at the left flank of the massive tiger, and it swung its wild mane before looking at them. It wasn't enough. It was growing weak but it would still kill them all before it went down.

Marla wanted to help! She looked around, and then looked at the ground. Rocks. Sticks. What could she do? She had a food pack and no phaser. She had no weapons and she didn't have super-strength! She had nothing!

Or did she?

She dumped her food out and took a large rock and put it in the pouch of her bag, then swung it using the strap. She swung it as fast as she could, using all the strength that her normal human body could muster, then sent the rock flying from the pouch and toward the head of the beast. It hit one of the tusks. No damage was visible, but the obvious pain and the distraction was enough to have it looking at her and not the other three.

"Oh God," she muttered before she backed up, prepared to run. But her distraction had given Khan and his two followers the advantage and all three were able to aim for the Smilodon's head. The brown and black striped creature fell down with a massive thud that caused a rippling quake for eight feet around.

They were all breathing hard, and looked in awe at their kill. Marla's lips turned up in a smile. She couldn't believe it! She'd just gone on a wild idea, to use her bag as a make-shift slingshot, and it worked! She couldn't believe that it had gone so well!

Khan lowered his weapons, tucking one behind him in his belt, turned toward Marla, and walked toward her quickly. She smiled at him, as he approached.

"That was amaz-"

He raised his hand as if to strike her, and her words died in her mouth. Her smile vanished in an instant. But he didn't hit her. He lowered his hand, and instead grabbed hold of her by the collar of her uniform.

"Are you insane?" he hissed as he drew her close. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I," she said, "I don't have a phaser and it was going to gore you or rip you all apart-" she tried to argue.

He wouldn't hear it. "You are the only one who knows _anything_ about this planet, and if you die, we are prey for everything on this forsaken place!" He let go of her, signaled for Weiss and Ling to come, then began walking again. Putting distance between themselves and the Smilodon.

As they went on their way, Khan demanded of her, "I want to know everything that you know about this planet. Anything that was written or archived about this place, from the smallest insect to that monster we just killed."

Marla felt the last of her pride in helping with the kill harden in her. She refused to let that go. She didn't believe he included her in the 'we' in that statement, but she would remember it. She had given them their chance, and she wouldn't deny that, even if they did.

"Yes, Sir," she said.

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

They made camp at sunset, after coming across a river that cut through their 'road'. While the trees didn't quite dam up the water's pathway. The way the palm-like flora stretched across provided them with a natural bridge. They could cross and be able to continue on tomorrow. But tonight, they had to take time to stop.

This time they relied on an older method of fire-building, by using friction between pieces of wood, to create a spark. After getting ample kindling and fuel for it to last the night, the four travelers sat to have their meal. Mid-way through, Lieutenant McGivers stood up and she cleared her throat. Khan looked up at the woman, waiting for her to say something. She had rather odd ideas of what was 'important', and that gave him a great deal of frustration.

"Um," the woman stalled. Couldn't she get to the point? When one attacked her passion, she was all words, or when she was riled, she could easily stand up for herself- he had observed that this very day! When it was inane, however, she tended to delay her words, and that was grating.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" he prompted, hoping to get whatever she wanted out of the way.

"Sorry, but, may I request leave to wash up?" Marla asked.

"…What?" he couldn't possibly be hearing this.

"I request permission to go have a bath, downstream, in privacy, Sir," the woman clarified.

He paused, and then flicked his fingers at Suzette. "Accompany the Lieutenant downstream, Suzette."

"I said I wanted to go alone," Marla contested.

He was not going to argue this matter. "As you, yourself, have pointed out, you are unarmed and weaker by far than any of us, especially Suzette. She will ensure that you are safe from possible threats, and return you when you have finished your bath." He looked at Suzette and repeated, "Go with her."

The Asian superwoman sighed and rose, then followed the younger woman down, over the tree-bridge, and out of sight.

"I thank God that I am not a woman," he groaned slightly to Joaquin, who tilted his head slightly to listen to his leader. "To be so touched with so many offences." He grinned while Joaquin's mouth quirked just so, in to his customary 'smile'.

The Sikh born Augment took out the tricorder, again, and he adjusted the earpiece. Then he pressed the keys to get Marla's recordings to play once more. He listened to the woman complain about her life's choices- did she ever stop whining? From the extent of her education, she sounded as if she had been rather studious. Why would she think it a mistake to take a path of academia? The search for knowledge and understanding was commendable. Was this some form of wit? He found it unappealing.

When the women returned, Marla's skin looked pink, as if she'd tried to scrub herself raw, and her hair clung to her forehead, curled around her ears, and over her neck. He had noted that in the dark of the evening, and the artificial lights of the escape shuttle, her hair looked brown. It did so, now, in fact, but during their journey, out under the light of the sun, it shone red. Perhaps she had been auburn as a child, and it had grown darker with years spent indoors, studying, and following the directive of the Federation.

Such a waste. The woman was such a waste. Today she had shown that when pushed, when challenged; when she was really given an incentive to, she could overcome obstacles and be more than she appeared to be. She could be stronger. She could be quick with tongue and intelligence. She could be so much more, and yet the damn Federation and its education and training had cowed her in to some mewling wretch.

Even without the benefits of genetic superiority, if he had a chance to mold this woman as he wanted…

Why couldn't he? He thought about it while he cleaned up from his meal, and listened to animals in the night. Why couldn't he take this shell, this half-ruined lump of clay, dressed in blue, and make her something better? She had the potential. Her make-shift slingshot had been a stroke of genius, though it had been utterly reckless and he was so tempted to slap her for putting her life at risk. Yes, he could take this woman, with her knowledge of the past, and use her intellect and her mental archive, and he could use her to build for himself a new empire here.

In truth, he had originally planned to locate his people and utilize their combined skills and strengths, as well as his knowledge of the 23rd Century's technology, to scavenge the escape shuttles and their own stasis units, and be able to create a means of leaving this planet. Locate a station and possibly take it over- begin to take revenge upon those who had left them all here to die, and destroy them.

Now, however, he saw a better plan. Oh, he would still utilize the shuttles and the cryo-units, and he may yet devise a means of leaving the planet with them, but first he would build a dynasty here. Like the first of mankind, newly born and given the world as a gift, he would use his superior people and make a civilization to rival that of any that there ever was on Earth. And his people would be faithful. Oh, yes, they would be so very faithful.

All he needed was this woman, McGivers, and her knowledge, of past and present, to help him.

He was no fool, though. He knew his attack on her before, and much of his treatment over these past two days- his entire history, if he were to be realistic- colored him as monsterous. She would have a hard time trusting him.

From the tone of her recordings, though, he had a means of uncovering what appealed to her. What charmed her. What would make her trust and follow him not only out of a need to have someone order her and command her, but out of true loyalty.

When the human woman lay down to sleep, and he, Joaquin, and Suzette took their watches for the night, he turned the tricorder back on, and began his own research. As her voice rattled off in his ear, he thought, '_Women have two languages, one of which is verbal_.'

By this night's end, he would have the tools to make this woman his willing puppet.

* * *

AN: I can't guarantee 2 or 3 chapters per day, but what can I say? I'm inspired. I hope that things aren't going too fast for you all, but I'm feeling the rush of writer's inspiration! Make sure to leave reviews, critiques, ideas, and any corrections (I appreciate them, actually) and I shall take all in to consideration! See you at Chapter 8.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: You have all been marvelous and wonderful readers, and I appreciate every review, especially those more in-depth and with so much insight! I state again that one of my primary goals is to provide you all with an entertaining story, while remaining true to both new source material and old, and of course, adding in my own vision.

Now hang on to your hats, kiddies!

* * *

Either the nature of their enhanced genetic makeup gave the three Augments the ability to run on little to no sleep for extended periods, or being in suspended animation really did make you not want to fall asleep again.

Those were the only possible explanations that Marla could get for why, after just one night of sleep for Ling, and none for either Weiss of Khan, none of them seemed tired. Not even the smallest hint of sleep deprivation was noticeable on them. They were as alert, clear, and capable as anyone who slept a full eight-hour cycle. Hell, even more than that, because Marla still felt tired.

She wasn't a stranger to physical exertion. Not even to long bouts of exercise and training. After all, Starfleet was still, for all its scientific and diplomatic work, primarily a military institution. They put their cadets through the ringer in terms of training and honing their bodies to pique physical fitness. She recalled her first weeks of training at the Academy, losing three pounds in body fat, but gaining at least two in muscle. Even with her less physically demanding job and status on the _Eden_, the remnants of that training were still visible under the regained 'softness' that had come back. She could never compare in brute-strength to other three with her now, but she could at least lift up to twelve pounds.

All that being well and good, it still didn't change that she was vulnerable to the usual human needs for food, water, and rest. Food and water could be conditioned to change, and she knew well the times that the human body could go without them and still survive. Sleep wasn't negotiable. Maybe one night, maybe you slept for three hours every other day, but the body needed time to reset!

Not for those three, however. Weiss, even though he'd been the initial prey of the Smilodon's attack, walked around without a single visible scratch. She didn't know if the tan jumpsuit he wore might hide any unknown injuries, but the rest of him that was visible seemed fine. Ling was as fresh looking as the moment that she woke up. And Khan…

Oh, Khan was still as intimidating, as eye-catching, and as mysterious as the moment she saw him sleeping in that stasis tube. The only difference now in the black-clad man was that now Marla knew, first hand, that he was every bit as violent and dangerous as their records of him stated. He was very much a walking weapon. She could see that all three of them were, really. And if, as Khan said, 'the best' of their kind were like this, what about the others? They all had this inside of them, this unfathomable strength and quick, intelligent minds. This was why they'd been sent off the Earth. If they had all been woken up with Khan, on Earth, with its technology and its advancements in every single aspect of life, they would have taken it over in a matter of days.

Humanity wouldn't have stood a chance.

And yet here she was, a tiny little human woman, sitting with veritable gods, eating breakfast while planning out what to do to find the rest of the escape shuttles, and all of the missing Augments.

"How much more of the trail is left?" Khan asked her from across the remains of the camp fire.

"I don't know. A few miles, maybe. But not very far," Marla told him. "Most of the trees are still standing, or bowed a little. Soon we'll lose any sort of evidence of our shuttle all together. Baring that they didn't land in the mountains, they're likely somewhere in the rest of this jungle."

"So, what do we do after that, Sir?" asked Ling. Weiss's head moved up slightly to hear what their leader's plan would be.

"After this trail ends, we will split in to search parties and cover more ground," he told his commanders.

"This planet," Marla said, "Is mostly tropical in nature, so, there would likely be large spans of open, sandy regions. Then there are the large bodies of water, and the shuttles are all capable of water-landings and won't sink. Not unless something in relative size to a whale somehow pulls one under."

"No one asked you to talk, Miss Encyc-" Ling started to say, but Khan interrupted her.

"What about the tigers?" Khan asked Marla. "Would they be able to open one? Cause harm to the occupants inside?"

"I… don't think so, Sir," Marla replied. "Even with the possibility of them breaking the windows, the paws don't appear to be big enough to be able to reach in. With the added protection of the stasis-tubes, everyone should be well protected by any predator animals like the Smilodon."

He rose in a single motion to his feet. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Your information was helpful."

To say that the others were surprised would be an understatement. Ling's mouth opened slightly, then snapped shut again and her dark eyes glazed over in annoyance that the 'inferior being' had been praised, while Weiss's impenetrable mask of a face cracked slightly as his forehead wrinkled, bringing his eyebrows closer together.

Marla was the most shocked out of them, however. He had thanked her for her input. Not only that, but he'd actually sounded sincere when he had! She tried to find anything to say, but only managed a weak, "You're… welcome, Captain."

He didn't reply, but went right to cleaning up the camp, then gave the order to move on. Marla still felt a light little bubble of pride as she followed them.

Their pathway really wasn't very long at all. Not even five hours after they had left the river-camp, there were no more damaged or broken trees, nor torn branches. There was nothing but a continued wall of tall, leafy palms before them and thick, dense jungle grass and plants, with the mountains top just visible beyond the green.

Khan turned to his commanders.

"You two will go east, while we will go west," he told them, and turned, taking hold of Marla's arm and starting off. Obviously, there were objections.

Weiss actually spoke, asking, "Sir?" He sounded like his voice was made from a thunder cloud.

"What? Sir, you can't take her with you!" Ling exclaimed, following and grabbing at the Starfleet officer's other hand. Unlike Khan, who had learned to compensate for Marla's less sturdy skeletal frame, Ling wasn't so gentle and squeezed the wrist too hard. The curly-haired woman winced.

Khan took Ling by the shoulder and pulled her away from Marla. "You and Joaquin are capable of covering more ground together. Without a hindrance from having to watch her, you could find our people more quickly. If you do, they will be more at ease to see two of their number rather than a friend and a possible foe."

"That'd be true if either I or Joaquin were with you, too. What if you have her and you find them first?" Ling asked him.

"My presence alone, as their Lord and their Captain, will be more than enough, even with her presence. She also has no weapon, and you have only one phaser. You and Joaquin have a better chance of survival together."

Ling pursed her lips.

"Are you questioning my authority, Ms. Ling?" Khan asked.

"No, Sir," Ling replied.

"Then go with Joaquin and if you find the others, use the flares." He took out his own, and turned the red tube upside-down. "Pull on that tab, and it will ascend in to the air. We will see it, and follow it to your location. If the Lieutenant and I find our people first, we will signal you. Do you understand?"

Ling said, "Yes, Sir." It was clear she wasn't convinced, but she appeared to be giving up the fight.

"Good. Joaquin, keep her safe," he told the larger Augment man, and then he took Marla's arm again and led her through to one part of the jungle, while Weiss and Ling took to the other.

Marla and Khan walked together in complete silence for twenty minutes. Truthfully, she was as baffled as to why he would take her with him in a 'search party' as his two closest followers were. Yes, she had some knowledge of the planet and she had a grasp on what sort of creatures would be here, but she had already given him all of that information. He didn't technically need her now. Perhaps without the factor of the information she could have for him, she had been relegated to 'hostage'. It was the most likely case. Still, why not send her off with someone else? He could have gone with Ling and given Marla to Mr. Weiss, and that would still solve the problem well on the issue of 'weapons.' And it wasn't as if Marla could overpower any of them. Not a chance.

While she stewed on these thoughts, the tall, dark-haired man spoke, but she had been so preoccupied she hadn't really heard it.

"I'm sorry, Sir," she said, coming out of her thoughts. "What did you say?"

"I asked how you were able to use your bag as a slingshot," he repeated.

"Oh… Part of my Senior Thesis," she told him.

He looked at her as if expecting her to continue. Apparently that wasn't enough.

"Well," she went on, "I was going over the importance of mentality and psychological stance and how it has affected various military leaders throughout history. One of the subjects was King David of Israel. When facing the Philistinian giant, Goliath, he had forgone the armor and sword of his people's army, and went to battle with just a sling and three stones.

"Now, to the Philistine army, and certainly to Goliath, this was a foolish maneuver. After all, if Israel's best soldiers couldn't kill him with swords, spears, and other weapons, how could a teenaged-boy with a slingshot and rocks hope to face him?"

"He had faith that his God would give him victory," Khan said.

"Exactly," Marla declared, smiling. "His faith in a divine power fueling him caused confidence in his brain, and helped him to achieve victory. In addition, David was a shepherd before going in to Saul's household."

"How did the skills of a shepherd help in that?" Khan asked her.

"How do you think he was able to aim right for the most vulnerable spot in Goliath's head?" she asked him in turn.

Khan's lips turned up at the corners. She had made him smile! "Practice," he said, his deep voice almost a purr, "He honed a skill."

"Yes!" Marla said, laughing. "He had grown up using that method, and others, to take down lions and other predators that would attack his family's livestock! That knowledge and strength, that precision and accuracy, along with his faith, culminated in the defeat of the best Philistine warrior of the age."

"And when they saw their best weapon fall, the Philistines feared the army of Israel, leading to complete victory," Khan said as he looked down at her. "That still does not explain your own proficiency."

"Well, I had to test my theory and back up the various statistics, didn't I?" she offered. "With that comes a practical test. I had to learn. My aim's not very good, though."

"I would say it was adequate." Was that a compliment he gave her? An actual compliment?

"Maybe, but I wasn't aiming for its tusk," she told him. "I was aiming for its nose."

"We are not all shepherd boys fueled by a divine being," Khan said to her.

"No, I've got better aim with a phaser, but, obviously, I can't have one, can I?" Marla said. And, dear God, why did it come out with so much attitude? This conversation had been pleasant, hadn't it? She hoped he didn't think she resented that.

_Recover, Marla_. "I mean, I understand why you won't give me one, but-"

"How was your thesis accepted?" he asked her, ignoring the comment.

"With the usual obligatory things, like, 'Very well researched. Commendable effort, well done, Ms. McGivers'. Except from the recruitment officer from Starfleet."

"And what were _his_ thoughts?"

" 'Well, little lady, if I ever lose my gun, I'll be right glad to have a rock and a rubber-band'," she said in a very terrible imitation of the officer's accent and tone.

The sound began quietly enough, and came up louder as it rose from his chest and in to his throat. His shoulders shook, and his lips started out pressed together, but parted, and showed rows of pearl-white teeth. Khan was laughing.

And Marla bit on her bottom lip but let it go and snickered, then laughed right along with him.

This wasn't happening. He was mass-murderer and a dictator, and he was laughing at her stupid imitation of a condescending military officer! Now he was making a deliciously dark chuckle that was sending something bright and warm from the center of her chest right down to her lower abdomen, while she was laughing with him. This was impossible!

Yet it happened. She had made him laugh. Not at her expense but because she had said something genuinely funny.

Maybe she wasn't quite a 'hostage', after all.

After that, Khan asked her about her interest in history. She explained that it had begun with the bedtime stories of Grimm's Fairy-tales that her mother read to her when she was small, and that as she grew, while fantasy remained something enjoyable, she wanted to know about the people such stories were inspired by, rather than fictional people and creatures.

"Why read about some knight that didn't exist when you can read about King Richard, the Lion Heart, and his actual time spent in the Crusades?" she had said. From that stemmed the need to study and learn about the men and women in the world who had conquered lands and people and how they had shaped the Earth in to what it was today.

"Once I was in the Academy, I wanted to look at the other Federation planets, too. I mean, these places evolved and grew almost in tandem with Earth, and yet there are so many differences! It was too good to pass up- I had to know."

All the while he said very little. He had admitted to being inspired by Alexander the Great, and other ambitious emperors and kings. She could see that. She could understand why he would find a rapport with these men from history. It made perfect sense, really.

When they had stopped and made camp, Marla felt more conflicted than ever. He had been so rough and so cruel to her, and now he was letting her talk on and on about herself. He had given her little things about himself that wouldn't be found in an archive somewhere. It didn't make any sense at all, but he was being courteous to her. It made her feel good. Very, very good. How could a man who was capable of so much evil and destruction, who just days before made her feel insignificant and like a burden turn around and make her feel as if she were the most interesting thing in the world?

As they ate their dinner, she said, "Thank you… For letting me ramble, today. I'm sorry if I was boring, at all."

"No, not at all," Khan assured her. "It is rare that anyone bothers to devote time to studying the greatest men that ever lived, and rarer that they would genuinely admire them, or learn from their best strategies. You surprise me, Lieutenant."

Her eyes went down to the ground. She would never be as close to him as Ling or Weiss, or anyone else in his crew. She was still just a stranger, and they were as different physically and genetically as night and day. She wasn't fit to even stand next to him, really. Yet…

"You can… call me Marla… If you want." She swallowed. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest she thought it might rattle her ribcage. She dared to look up.

His pale eyes held hers, and his lips turned upward. His chin rose slightly.

"_Marla_."

Oh, sweet mercy, his voice… His voice saying her name; it was a caress. It was the sensation of warm, rich velvet being rubbed against naked skin. Her cheeks grew hot from the blood rushing to them, making them red and more than obvious in the light of the fire. The breath that had caught in her throat when he said her name came out shakily, while a shiver went from the nape of her neck and down through her spine.

She dusted her hands clean, and then grabbed her blanket from her pack. Her hands were shaking while she tried to disguise her reaction.

"I, ah, I feel absolutely exhausted." Oh, yes, mistress of deception she was, all right. "G-goodnight Captain."

He stood up, his phaser already in hand. There was no question of him sleeping or not. He would be doing the night-watch. "You may call me Khan," he said to her.

She froze under her blanket, and craned her neck as she looked up at him. Not even his commanders used his first name, and she had heard him call them his friends. This was far too good to be true- too much to ask for. She had been calling him by his name in her head from the start, and now to have permission to use it out loud…

She licked her lips, "Goodnight…Khan." Then she turned away, lay down, and wrapped her blanket tight around her.

"Goodnight, Marla," he answered, stroking at her name with his voice again.

She closed her eyes, and her dreams that night centered on a man clothed in robes of royal purple velvet, with eyes the color of ice and a voice that could make whole nations fall to their knees in supplication.

* * *

AN: Poor Marla. She's absolute putty, and I wouldn't blame her, would you? ;) Reviews, critiques, positive feedback always welcome!


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Thanks to all for the support and the kudos Before we go to the story, I want to let all my fellow artists in the audience know that if they want to draw fan-art for this story, I'd greatly appreciate it! Have an actress in mind for this new universe's Marla? Use her. Want my recommendation? Send a PM. Either way, if you'd like to draw something, go right on ahead, and link it in your review, or via PM! I love when folks apply their talents and creativity to something they love ^.^

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_**Marla's POV**_

She woke the next morning to the fire being put out. She sat up, stretched, and then shook out her short, shaggy curls. She wouldn't have called them shaggy last week, when she had a good shower, soap, conditioner, and a comb, but after some time out in these woods, she felt the red-brown swirls had begun to fluffy and frizz in the humidity.

One week…

Oh.

"It's been a week, already," she mused aloud.

"Pardon?" Khan asked. He dusted his hands clean, and reached for his pack to get out a bread packet.

"Sorry," Marla said, "I just realized. It's been a whole week since the _Eden_ went down."

"I never properly thanked you for that," Khan murmured as he handed her pack to her. She looked from it to him, then down and to him again. What?

"I thought…Why?" she said, sounding rather pathetic.

"You rescued my people, and me, from dying on your ship, at expense to your own safety and life. I never thanked you for it. I wish to remedy that. Thank you, Marla, for saving us."

The woman's cheeks lit up pink as she reached for her bag, and fished out something for breakfast. She couldn't risk looking at Khan, right now.

"I thought you resented me for separating you from your people," she said as she opened a packet of peanut butter to put on the last bits of her sponge-bread.

"It was not an ideal situation, and I worry about the wellbeing of my people."

She nodded. "I'm sorry."

"If you hadn't landed the escape pod manually we would have crashed, and my people would be stranded out there, with no one to find them or wake them. And if this was our intended destination for exile, then no one would ever wake them." He reached his hand over, and took hold of her free one. His touch was careful, and light. He had adjusted it again. The last times he had done it, it was almost the same as a normal-strengthed human touching another. This touch was the gentlest he had ever touched her. It was a glaring contrast to how he had treated her when he had first woken up. It was almost frightening, really, how it had changed so.

She took her hand back and tried to concentrate on her breakfast as he withdrew, as well, walking a pace to look out through the forest.

"I had a thought last night that we might know the land better and locate our quarry from a higher vantage point," he said.

"The highest place I've seen so far are the mountains and that could take weeks, maybe months, to get to."

"Unacceptable," was his answer.

"Then, maybe…" she thought, "Climb a tree? Have a look from up there?"

"Literal 'bird's eye view'?" he asked her.

"Seems so." She washed down her food, packed, then stood up. "I suppose I could climb up one here, if you want, and it'll save us time."

"You?" his tone was one of disapproval. "No. I can do it."

"Ah, I know you could, Khan," she said as she went up beside him, the both of them walking toward a tree, "But I'm lighter, and I can climb a tree just fine. I won't be fast, but I can get up there without a lot of trouble."

"Unless a branch breaks," he countered, "And you fall. You could break a limb or your neck. I could fall and walk away."

"I won't get hurt," she told him, and launched at a tree, grabbing a lower bark segment, and getting a foot-hold, and she began climbing up. He grabbed her by the calf.

"You can't guarantee that. You could fall!"

"And if I do, you'll catch me," she said, looking down at him now from her place on the tree-trunk. It had come, unbidden, to her head, but something told her yes. Yes, he would catch her if she fell. Whatever else, he'd catch her if she lost her grip, slipped, or something broke under her weight.

Apparently he agreed with that, because he let go of her leg, but did not move. Instead she felt his eyes fix on her as she made her slow, steady climb up the tree. She was very impressed with the sturdiness of the palms on this planet. They were actually pretty thick, too. Big enough to rival oaks or pine trees, in their trunk width. When she made it up to the top, parting the dense green leaves at the highest point, she looked out over the land.

It was breathtaking. She could not even imagine a place like this back on Earth. Not even the prehistoric ages, which this place was already so similar to, could really compare to the beauty. Behind them, around the place where they had landed, there was an endless expanse of green jungle-forest, and she knew that that could be a source of food and of dangers, but that would all be navigated around. They already knew what one source of danger lurked there. Though most predators killed could also be used for sustenance. A double-edged sword. To the west, just at the edge of the green was endless blue. She could assume it was the ocean. But she saw no sign of the shuttles. Toward the mountains she looked, now.

"Do you see anything?" Khan called from below. "Marla?"

"Oh my God," she proclaimed as she tried to accept what her eyes were taking in. She looked down. "Khan, in the valley! In the valley, right under the mountains! I see them!"

"How many!" he demanded.

She tried to count. Followed them. She couldn't make out the eastward side of the mountain but she didn't doubt that the others would be far. "Nine, right ahead, and three, I think, then I see hills. The rest might be just beyond them!"

She looked down again, and laughed. The look of relief on his face was worth the climb up. "We found them, Khan!" Her giggles floated on the wind. She couldn't believe their luck. It was perfect. Too perfect.

That would, naturally be when she would lose her footing. As her foot lost its purchase on the tree, her hands slipped, and she tried to re-grab a branch to keep herself up, but her fingers slid through the leaves, and she went down, shrieking and her arms and legs flailing.

In the seconds that she fell, her mind flashed back to one of her first nightmares after the star ship went down:

_Falling! She was falling! The corridor had no end- she was falling!_

She landed with a thud that knocked the wind from her, and had her shaking and twitching. But she hadn't landed on the ground; Khan held her in his arms, legs dangling over one while his other supported her back.

She'd fallen and he caught her.

"Marla?" his voice sounded as if there was concern there, "Are you all right? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"F-fine," she whispered. "I'm fine… Give me a minute." She swallowed once. Twice. Then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I think you can put me down now."

He did, and anger came to his face again. Anger seemed to like being worn on his expression.

"I told you that you would fall," he seethed. "I should have gone up."

"And I said," She replied, "That you would catch me if I did." She smiled. "Thank you."

He stood, looking confused now, as if he couldn't make up his mind what to feel. Marla took the opportunity to divert his attention.

"I think if we stared today, we could make it to the valley in about three or four more days," Marla said. "Then by next week, if the rest of the pods are scattered along the hills, all of your people will be accounted for and can be woken up."

He nodded, and his face seemed to adopt a neutral expression. He pulled his signal flare from his packet. "It will be longer. I gave my word." He set up the flare, released the tab, and it rocketed up in to the sky, and then exploded in a burst of red and orange.

"We will wait for Suzette and Joaquin," Khan said. "Then we descend to the valley."

"All right," Marla said. She looked around at their location. The camp had only been made of a fire. Technically they didn't have to leave or clean up anything.  
"Well, since we're not going anywhere for a while," Marla said, walking slowly toward the remnants of the fire.

"Why did you join Starfleet?" Khan asked her.

She half turned toward him, then sat down on the ground. "Well, that's rather abrupt. Why do you care?"

"You possess an intellect that is superior to those of the mindless drones and adventure-crazed idealists that typically join them, and I doubt you enjoy combat. Was it the prospect of the 'prime directive'?" He had some valid points.

"Well, the idea of being able to study other civilizations and not hamper their growth is fascinating, but one can't properly look at a culture and its history without some form of interaction," she explained to him. "Mostly it was a whim. I went to college to be a librarian- an archivist- but that became less fun and I didn't want it to be like the tedium of science. My aunt and uncle were scientists, and I couldn't stand that. So, Starfleet it was."

"What about your parents?"

"Why do you want to know about me?" she finally asked. She did enjoy his attention- especially if it came with conversation rather than the edge of threats and possible death- but she couldn't stop the nagging in the back of her head that said this was slightly off.

He walked over to her, and dropped down, sitting with her. With his icy eyes on her again, she scooted back a little.

"You offered trust and loyalty, unbidden, and after you have been abused at my own hands. You possess wit and a willingness to serve. It intrigues me."

His words came in a deep, rumbling, quiet wave that made all the doubt in Marla shut up and let the sensation his voice gave her settle deep down in her stomach.

"Well… Okay," she said, needing to clear her throat. She took a breath, and told him. About her parents and how they'd been engineers and that they died in a Transporter accident when she was seven. It was ironic that she chose to follow them, in a way, by joining the Academy and being on a ship, as well, but she didn't mind that. It felt right at the time.

She recounted to him how she had grown up with her aunt and uncle. He grandfather and some of his old Irish customs- another person in her life who had encouraged her current passion. She even told him about Archie, and how they had become friends after a very strange incident that involved far too much tequila, a stuffed penguin, and ukulele.

"Archie was just always so much fun," Marla sighed, and felt again the sense of loss for her friend. "And for the short time that he was a Captain, he was… a very good one. He made sure to treat everyone, regardless of rank, with respect." She looked at her fingers as she fidgeted. "It was his dream, and he only lived it for a while. But he made the most of it."

Khan said nothing while she talked about her friend. Now that he had finished, he moved closer to her. When he spoke his voice was soft, and solemn.

"I am sorry for the loss of your friend."

When she raised her gaze up to his, she realized how close he actually was. She also realized that she had, again, talked to him for hours.

"I keep talking your ear off," she said. He was so close, it was hard for her to fight the urge to lean in closer and brush his leg with her knee. To move her hand closer to his. To turn her head just so to get his voice right in her ear. "But you've barely told me anything about yourself."

"You know everything, already," he told her.

"I know that you fought in the Eugenics war. I know that you ruled a country, and had to leave the planet or face extinction. I know that Star Fleet woke you up and used your knowledge and abilities to try and further our own, then tried to cover it up. And I know that you killed a lot of people because of what they did to you and your crew- and that you were put back to sleep and put on a ship to be left on an alien world."

She took a breath, and then went on, "I didn't know that you looked up to Alexander the Great. I'm guessing that you've read the works of Shakespeare, because you recognized my quote from the Tempest, but I certainly don't know what other things you might have read could be. And I don't know if you had a proper mother or father or not. I don't know what your favorite paintings are. These are things I want to know."

"Why do you want to know?" he sounded wary. She couldn't help but smile.

"You intrigue me," she answered, meeting his eyes.

He looked away, first. "My mother and father were the orchestrators of the Chrysalis Project. It was their vision to create genetically perfect human beings who could fight and survive- perfect soldiers- who were superior in every way." He told her about his life as one of these soldiers. His brief time as the head of a country- Chandigarh- and his downfall. Taking to the ship, _Botany Bay, _with his followers, and how they had had to place themselves in stasis to await a more peaceful time.

"And, to curb your curiosity, I have read all the works of The Bard, as well as Milton, Dante, Hemingway, and others. I was ever desirous of books, and whenever I could have one, I devoured it. My favorite painting is _Napoleon at St. Bernard Pass._"

"I know that one," Marla said, excited. "It's just absolutely glorious!"

"Yes," Khan said, "And he was an underappreciated king."

"And contrary to popular belief, he was considered quite tall," she added. She was rewarded for her humor with his dark chuckle.

With the pause came the realization that between the two of them they had filled the entire day with conversation once more. She rose to her feet. "It'll be dark, soon. We need to build a fire."

Khan stood up as well, and as they started to look for nearby kindling, they were met with the sounds of something fast and larger than the local birds approaching them. He immediately drew his phaser and followed the direction of the sound, then placed himself in front of Marla

"Stay behind me," he told her. She moved closer to him, but obeyed, staying right behind him. The sound grew closer and closer, and then figures appeared in the trees. Marla sighed, and Khan lowered his weapon.

It was Ling and Weiss.

"Did you find them?" Ling asked, slowing.

"You ran the whole way here?" Marla asked. It should have taken them at least another day to get here.

"Of course," Ling sneered at her. "We can move faster than ordinary humans at any speed."

Well, she apparently had been slowing them down worse than she realized.

"In the valley," Khan said to Ling. "At the foot of the mountains. We'll be there in four days if we start traveling tomorrow."

"Did you hear that, Joaquin?" Ling said, her mouth a wide smile as she reached over and gave a light shove at the power-house beside. "Thank God!"

"No, thank Marla," Khan said, looking very pleased. Marla looked down.

"No, K- Sir, I didn't-" she began.

"Who's _Marla_?" Ling asked.

"Forgive me. Lieutenant McGivers," he clarified, drawing Marla forward, his hand moving from her shoulder to rest on the center of her back. "She spotted them from the tree-tops."

"She did?" Ling quite clearly did not believe it.

"Did I not say she would be our guide? And she has guided us well." Khan took his hand from Marla, and then they rebuilt their fire to settle for the evening.

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

While Lieutenant McGivers slept, he had the tricorder open, and was once again studying her through her recordings. She had seemed quite childish in them, and it had made him prepared to face a woman with exceptionally unrealistic ideas and very juvenile naiveté. While she was quite trusting- far too trusting for her own good, he thought- over the past two days, she had proven to be full of surprises. He knew she was intelligent, but to go to such lengths for her field of study? To be so devoted to it? It nearly verged upon obsession, really.

That could be useful, however. With a proper knowledge of ancient civilizations and settlements, and how each of them survived, it would be much easier for his people to make this planet their domain. _His_ domain.

He had been concerned that he might not be able to gain her confidence so quickly, but her reactions to his praise, his inquiries, and his attention- especially when she had given him leave to use her first name- all fell in to place neatly with what he heard tonight. The woman had been half in-love with him already.

A foolish choice on her part, though. From her recordings it was clear that while she knew of his past and what he was, she was still attracted. That quite clearly held up. The woman must have concocted some fantasy in her head, something combining her childhood appreciation for fairy-tales and her current love of 'heroic figures' and she had cast him in to the role of some misguided tragic-hero who needed a good woman to make him better. It was a complete and utter farce! She had become that infatuated while he had been asleep? She was so foolish.

But what was the harm in feeding her fantasy a little? His goal _was_ to get McGivers- Marla, as she had asked him- to trust him. To become devoted to him and to be his loyal little toy. By playing to her sense of a 'noble and honorable man', and giving her attention, being gentle with her and showing her 'trust', he had her practically on her knees. She trusted him, now. Trusted him to catch her. To protect her. To keep her safe. And she was becoming more loyal to him by the minute.

He was not an inexperienced man in the way of deception and manipulation, after all. He had played the part of the lothario for women in his time as a ruler. He had played the obedient and dutiful Commander Harrison for Starfleet, and he could certainly be Marla's King Richard.

Naturally, he could not disclose his plan to Suzette or Joaquin. They wouldn't understand the necessity. They were intelligent, but they didn't see how important this woman was to their race's survival. Just a little more, and Marla would be worshiping him, like a god.

He listened on to the sounds of Marla as she pattered about on the last day of her journey in the escape pod. He assumed there would be more of either her childish ramblings or the vapid prattle of her complaints, but now he had a better knowledge of her. More than she'd told him, even today. The things that she loved, the things that she held dear to her and cherished. The places, the people. Last night he had listened to her anguish and her grief over the loss of Captain, 'Archie', Harlan, and how she had very narrowly managed to be placed upon his ship.

How narrowly he had come to death, then. How thin the chance that they would have never met.

What really gained his attention in this final recording were words he never expected her to ever say, not until now, at the very least. Never expected anyone to say.

_"Now, I know it's really silly to believe in fate and destiny and all that, seriously. But… This can't all be coincidence, can it? And, I know he's dangerous- I know he could very possibly kill me the moment he's awake, but I… Honestly… Don't care."_

She didn't care? Then? He had been a face in a tube- a man entombed! How could she have been that attached to him? The figment she'd made in her mind? Some 'Florence Nightingale' mentality?

_"If I can get them there, safely, and give them a chance… Then maybe it will be worth it. The loss of the _Eden_, these nightmares, this… All of this! It'll be worth it. It will be so worth it."_

The last was her singing old songs, some that he actually knew, in fact, and more idle chatter before their descent. He shut off the recording, and then took the earpiece out.

This, he thought, was too marvelous. He smiled. In the dark, his lips parted, and his mouth drew up in to a large, predatory grin. He had nearly destroyed all of this devotion right at the beginning, but to know it had been there, at all, and to know that it lingered enough to draw her closer to him, it was all just too wonderful for words.

Marla McGivers would be his tool. The key to his success, and he would ensure that she built him and his dynasty up with the hands of an acolyte. The faith of a high-priestess, all for his glory!

He pocketed the tricorder and he resumed his night watch. After all, it wouldn't do to let some beast come and harm his precious key in the night.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Enjoy Chapter Ten, folks!

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The journey to the valley had no major incidents. It seemed that luck was again on their side, as they waded through the jungle. They didn't encounter the known and possibly unknown predators. They had all begun to use less of the food in their bags, for now, to make it last a bit longer, and to avoid eating any of the surrounding plants. There had been several types of berries that looked plump and ripe, but, of course, to try and sample one just yet would be fatal.

"We need to collect these at some point," Marla pointed out. "A tricorder could scan them all for toxins that could kill or make someone sick."

"Well put, Marla," Khan had said.

He had been using her first name around Weiss and Ling, and Marla knew that it baffled the two Augments, but she couldn't help but feel pride whenever he said it. Or whenever he praised her. While walking, their formation had returned to the order of Khan at point, Marla and Ling behind, and Weiss at the rear, but whenever they stopped for the night, Marla would look over at Khan. She watched his angular face, seeking his eyes. Sometimes she found them, and when their eyes met, his lips would quirk up slightly. Subtle and a bit mischievous; as if they had a secret.

In a way, they did have a secret. That time, brief as it was, alone together, was a secret just for them. Marla felt she knew more about him. Not just bland facts, but a bit in to the actual man himself. And he knew more about her, too. She certainly didn't feel like a hostage or a prisoner, anymore. She felt as if he actually enjoyed her company. She enjoyed his. Oh so very much.

At night, her thoughts were about his touch. How he had held her hand, as if her bones were made of glass, and the gentler strokes or brief passes of his hand to her back, or her shoulder, or her arm. From that first to the brief encounters that had followed, she felt warmth pooling in her stomach, and her skin would break in to goose bumps. It made her wonder how it would feel to have him cup her cheek. How would it feel to have his palm on her hip, or her thigh? What would she do if he did that? What would she let herself do? And she yearned to return those touches! She wanted to glide her fingertips over the back of his wide, long-fingered hand; wrap her fingers around his bicep, or press her palm against the center of his chest.

Those thoughts and many others, though, were slightly marred by one little voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her she was jumping to conclusions. The voice of doubt and of suspicion was still firm and prevalent, reminding her that he could also be capable of crushing her skull in his hands. Literally! He'd done it! It was documented. It reminded her that he had choked her.

Yes, he apologized for that-

_Had he?_

-She still trusted him. Still felt safest with Khan nearby. He would protect her.

_A tail. A segmented scorpion's tail. The stinger's tip was glistening and dripping with the combination of its venom and her blood…_

That memory came now and then. Memories of half-forgotten nightmares from when she had been alone in the escape shuttle. Nightmares about the very man leading her on through the jungle. Her doubt was a bitch to remind her of those dreams.

She ignored them. She wouldn't let herself question things. She had felt a connection be made with the Sikh Augment, and she wasn't going to let old fears and a rough start-

_HA!_

-Make her forget about that. They had something here. A friendship, maybe? The beginnings of one? She could hope. Until it was evident, she at least was firm in the knowledge that she could trust him and put her faith in him to protect her.

Not so much for the others, though. She supposed she could trust them, to an extent. Ling followed Khan's orders dutifully, even if she was still just as much of a bully. And Weiss, while silent, and still always giving her a look (when he did look) as if she were a bug that was going to be squashed at some point, wasn't going to outright do anything unless told to. So, from that standpoint, she was still quite safe.

The final day of their journey, they could see the end of the thick jungle. Between the large trees she could see glimpses of the expanse of the valley. The group's pace picked up with every step. She could see their goal just before them. When they broke through, finally stepping out fully in to the light of the sun, without the oppression of the jungle around them, she felt as if she were breathing in real, fresh air for the first time. She looked out around them, and saw the rolling landscape. Not all of it was as green as the region they had just left; they still had a massive fertile land. And practically untouched, save for one away-team years ago that had come here to classify and catalog the planet. They were the first to truly venture in to this new and unknown land.

It was a real frontier.

They followed the formation of the land, moving downward at a growing gradual slope, until they were deep within the valley itself. The first nine pods were grouped together, all close and perfectly in-tact. Not a scratch on their outer shells.

"Open them," Khan commanded Ling and Weiss. "Then wake everyone inside. Tell them to wait for me. Marla and I shall locate the others."

"Sir," Ling said, "What if you encounter any other animals? Like the Tiger?"

"I assure you, Ling, that between myself and the Lieutenant, we will be able to face any danger that presents itself." He started toward the east. "Come, Marla."

Marla nodded, and called, "Yes, Sir," as she hurried to keep up with his pace.

While they walked through the valley together, Marla looked up at the tall, dark-haired Augment. She bit on her lip, and then asked, "What happens now? After you wake them all up?"

They rose up a short incline and then down again.

"We will begin the 'great work'," he told her.

Utterly confused, she waited and they climbed up the slope of a bigger hill. When they crested the top, they looked down. A very low dip in to the valley revealed the remaining five shuttles that had been out of her sight. She started to go forward, but he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Stay here," Khan said to her. "I will wake them and lead them back. I will be able to see you if any animals appear or attack."

"Okay," she replied, and watched him head down. She waited, patiently, and quietly, as she watched him open the first shuttle and disappear inside. When he came back out, he ran to the next. After an hour, every escape shuttle had emptied, and several Augments surrounded their leader. He seemed to be giving them some short instructions. Perhaps telling them that he would explain everything soon. Whatever he had said, once he started back for the hill, they followed.

Marla smiled when he returned, but he simply said, "Follow." She obeyed, unsure, now, with the other Augments awake. She looked over her shoulder. So many diverse people, and yet all shared in the fact that they had been created to endure injury, fatigue, and other conditions that ordinary humans could not, or did with great difficulty. They were all designed to be better than the rest of the human race.

Soon they reconvened with Ling and Weiss. As the two Commanders met with them, Khan turned to Marla.

"Stand beside Suzette," he told her. "Don't talk. And do not move until I tell you to." Marla wondered why he would ask, but she didn't question him. Instead she fell back in step just behind Ling, who paused when Khan bent down to whisper in the Augment's woman's ear, and then followed as he led the three of them up a short incline. He stopped mid-way, and it was obvious he needed the vantage point in order to look out over the assembled mass of seventy. His eyes swept over them all, then he spoke. He raised his voice enough to let the natural curve and shape of the land amplify him for all to hear.

"My people. My faithful followers. My dear, dear family. I know that it seems as if only yesterday, we last stood together before we went in to our artificial slumber. I also know that you stand here now, in this alien land, with many questions on your minds. I shall answer them for you.

"You will find it difficult to believe, but three hundred years have passed since we went in to cryogenic stasis. The world we knew is gone. It has been replaced with a world of far superior technology- the vessels you all found yourselves in upon waking are the proof of this. They are escape shuttles that came from a mighty Star Ship that our own beloved _Botany Bay_ could never compare to in terms of its power and capabilities.

"It was in this time, my dear friends, that I was awoken by the new governing body of the universe: The United Federation of Planets. Their elite military force, The Starfleet, took me from my rest with you, and asked for my assistance. They knew of my superior strength and intelligence, and they lured me in with promises of a world that was at peace- of many worlds at peace with each other. But this was not so, my people, this was a _lie_."

Marla looked at Khan, and opened her mouth. He still resented the Federation! He was going to paint them all as war-mongering savages! What would that mean for her? She was about to speak, but she heard Suzette whisper, "Don't say anything, or I will shoot you."

She clamped her mouth shut and felt her body erupt in cold shivers. Was that what he'd whispered to Ling? Request her to shoot Marla if she interrupted his speech?

_So much for trust._

Meanwhile, Khan continued speaking to the crowd. "They used the technology I helped them create to clandestinely orchestrate a war with an alien race, far away. A race that was just as savage and brutal, but who, unlike the Federation, value honor. Being a man of honor, myself, I could not let this happen. I attempted to undermine these men, hungry for a war, hungry for blood, and I nearly succeeded. But alas. They used you, my beloved crew and subjects, against me, and I was beaten down in battle. They placed me back in to stasis, as if to put me away- to put _us_ away- like a memory to be forgotten. Garbage to be discarded.

"That was not the end, of course," he added, taking one step towards the crowd. "To simply let us sleep? To let us continue our dreams for a better life? That was not enough. They took us again, in to space, with the intent to be rid of us forever. Using again their lies of 'war' and 'hostile enemies', they sacrificed their own people to try and murder us all!"

This caused not only angry shouts and shocked gasps from the crowd of Augments. It made Marla feel sick. What the hell was he saying?! She'd told him it was a Bird of Prey- she had seen the thing herself! He was making them think it was an orchestrated lie!

"However," Khan said, "Providence graced us. We were sent help from the very enemy who sought to destroy us." He turned, and looked at Marla. She returned his gaze, feeling hurt and betrayed, but his expression was… soft. And welcome. Beseeching, maybe? He stretched out his long arm, and held his hand open to her. What was he doing?

"Come forward, my dear," he said, his voice soft like kid-leather. "It is all right."

She shouldn't. He was telling them lies. She should step up and contradict every word he said.

_Tell them the truth!_

She never follows her own advice.

Marla walked toward the outstretched hand. The hand that had touched her so gently just days ago. Caught her when she fell. Sought her now.

"This woman," said Khan, as the petite woman walked up to him. "Lieutenant Marla McGivers, felt compassion for us. In the darkest hour, she rescued us. She saved us all from certain death. She transported us in to the vessels behind you, and she brought us here. She is our savior."

He placed his arm across her shoulders and held her close to him, hand resting on her upper bicep. "In doing so, she has been exiled with us. She turned her back on her kind, those monsters, to help us build a new life. A life of peace, and prosperity. Upon this world, known as Ceti Alpha Five, we shall thrive. Set apart from the rest of the universe, we shall create, together, a civilization that will outshine all others."

The throng erupted in to cheers. Cheers for this declaration and for their leader.

"We will colonize this wilderness," Khan said, his voice rising and taking on a more joyous tone. "We shall name our empire New Chandigarh, and we will prosper! But I cannot do this alone," he told them.

"No, not alone. I will need all of you, my people, to help make this dream- _our_ dream- a reality. All of your skills, your abilities, your strengths and greatest gifts, I will need them all to make this world truly our own. Will you help me, my friends? Will you build this paradise with me?"

Every man and woman cried out in answer. Yes! Yes, they would help! They would build New Chandigarh with their leader- Lord Khan, someone shouted- and they would make the dream come true.

Marla was in complete awe. He had delivered a grand and magnificent speech. She trembled, though, still afraid and still confused about why he had to give them so many lies and paint so many as devils to gain the crowd's sympathies.

With the approval and the cooperation of the masses with him, Khan gave out his first command as their Lord. "Wonderful, my subjects, wonderful. Now, first we must ready ourselves. This world, though new and ripe for our use, is still full of dangers. But we have weapons to use, waiting in the shuttles, as well as food, and other wonders. Suzette, Joaquin, lead them and help them recover everything. We will gather it all and then distribute our supplies as needed."

The Commanders nodded and left him to guide the other Augments to the shuttles to start taking everything inside that they could. While they were alone, for the moment, Marla turned to Khan.

"Why did you tell them the Federation destroyed our ship?" she asked him. "We were attacked by the Klingons. I saw their ship with my own eyes, Khan!"

He raised his hand, fingers poised over his lips. "Keep your voice down." He glance to the throng of people, but it seemed no one had heard her.

"Marla, during my time with Starfleet, they had many secrets that they did not want the public to know. Marcus was a devious and bloodthirsty man," he told her. He leaned in, his voice a soft growl in his throat. "He used ships salvaged from skirmishes with the Klingon Empire to create more advanced weaponry and war ships. He wasn't above repairing those space-crafts to use in subterfuge and to create false battles."

Marla felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down her neck. "You can't…Khan, what are you saying?"

"Think, Marla," his smoky voice whispered. "You weren't sent on your mission to protect the Earth or to give us any peace. Your ship and her crew were meant to be martyrs. They sacrificed the _Eden__,_ and murdered your friend."

Once the idea was in her head, she couldn't help but see how it could be possible. After all, they were in Neutral Space. And they had just left the last Station within light-years. That was so convenient, wasn't it? So easy to send a recovered Klingon ship and open fire on a ship that was on a peaceful mission. It had all been an elaborate set-up!

_NO!_ The voice of doubt argued with her. Khan all but told them that the Federation- a government devoted to peace and sharing knowledge with all races and species- was full of nothing but hypocritical, war-crazed villains.

_In his mind, wouldn't they be?_ She reminded herself of an old saying: History is written by the victors. The Native Americans once saw the European settlers as invaders who murdered their people and took their homeland. Didn't many wars start because both sides saw one another as either heretics who worshiped idols, or as brutal and wicked barbarians? It would be natural for Khan to see the Federation and Starfleet as intent on war and subduing planets under their control.

She looked down and shook her head, fighting the urge to cry. "I can't believe that," Marla said. "My parents devoted their lives to them. I did, too. Archie…"

Khan's long, pale fingers cupped her chin, holding it lightly, and he drew her face upward again.

"They betrayed you," he confirmed. His brows furrowed. His thumb rubbed slightly at her chin. "But you do not have to worry about them, my dear. Not ever again. You are better than any of them, Marla. You took pity on us- on _me_. Even knowing all of my transgressions and failures, you had mercy and you rescued me not once, but thrice, thus far; from your ship, from the crash, and from the tiger."

He was acknowledging that? He was proud of her for that? It made her heart hurt so much she thought it would stop entirely. Made the muscle go still in her chest.

"I need you, Marla," Khan said. "I need that loyalty, that compassion, and that clever mind- for you, my dear, are very, very clever. I need your help, as well, to make my new kingdom, and to ensure the survival of my people." His hand swept up, fingers trailing along her jaw and up her cheek, and he tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear. Stroked the skin behind it with a his fingertips.

"Will you help me, my dear? Say that you will help me."

How could she say 'no' to that?

* * *

AN: How indeed? I hope this chapter was good for you guys! I may need to take a break from here soon to work on a writing collab, but I promise! I will give you all chapter 11, and we'll see how Marla does among the rest of the Augments ^.^ Remember: All critique, suggestions, even fan-art, questions, and corrections are welcome!


	11. Chapter 11

Any hopes that she would immediately be accepted by the Augments were dashed nearly from the beginning.

After agreeing to help Khan with his grand vision, Marla had followed him to offer any help in either the retrieval of the food, weapons, and other supplies in the escape shuttles. However, each time she tried, or asked someone if they needed a hand, the response was the same.

"No."

"We can handle it, just stay out of the way."

"Sit down, and don't get yourself hurt."

That was of course if they spoke to her at all.

It was rather infuriating. She had thought that, being introduced as the person who helped them escape a fiery death, she would be welcome. Apparently not. After the seventh failed attempt, she did as she was told, and stayed out from underfoot until everything was done. She couldn't help but feel rather useless.

With every weapon, every food and med kit stacked and sorted, Khan stepped forward and demonstrated how one operated a phaser safely and effectively. She watched as he demonstrated the aim against one of the larger rocks, and she hoped that everyone taking the silver weapons would understand how powerful they can be. A phaser in the wrong hands is a death that could have been prevented with proper training. But, perhaps the fact that they were genetically made to be smarter and quicker to learn combat techniques would help prevent that.

After the phasers were given out- and Marla was still without one- Khan finally called her to his side.

"Would the escape shuttles serve well enough for dwellings?" he asked her.

"I suppose they could, but only for a little while. Permanent homes, especially ones made of brick, would be good. It's unfortunate that we don't have any concrete, or other things, but in time we could try a mixture of mud, wood, grass and peat and make a form of sod."

"A 'yes' would have been fine," Ling muttered from Khan's left.

"A temporary solution is suitable, but we will need to plan for the future," Khan said, "These vessels will lose power, eventually, but the parts and materials from them could be utilized for other purposes. We'll discuss these things later."

He went about assigning groups in to each shuttle. With five people in each, the maximum occupancy, and four over-flow in another, it left them with one for their 'hospital' and one for their food-storage. At least that was what Marla thought as she followed along and saw the various assignments to each dwelling. The shuttles farthest away had to be brought to the center of the valley, but they discovered very quickly that seven of their men could lift one up rather easily. With those problems covered, by the evening, they had every craft a single area, the stasis tubes set aside- though Marla hoped they would never be needed again- and food given out for everyone to have dinner.

As the petite woman sat to eat her dinner that evening, she had time to think. She wanted to help, and it seemed the best way to help would be her knowledge of settlements from the past. She mentally considered the various colonies in the Americas and in other countries that had failed and that had survived, and the first thing that came to mind was a water source. There was one in the jungle, but it was days away. They would need to find a brook or stream or something and either build near it, or dig irrigation canals to access it.

While she was deep in thought, she didn't hear approaching footsteps, or notice that Khan had come to sit beside her until he said her name. It made her jump and her face lit up red from embarrassment, and that deep rumble that he used every time he addressed her.

"Did I startle you?" he asked, looking amused

"I'm sorry, Sir," She couldn't be too informal now, could she? Not since he was now addressed with a more royal title. "I was thinking about finding a possible water source to build the settlement around."

"We can discuss that tomorrow," he told her. "I want to hear your thoughts about it. I came to ask why you are sitting alone."

She looked around, and realized, yes, she was sitting alone. She shrugged. "It's fine," she told him. "I've… been a little superfluous today, I think, and no one here knows me… It's natural that they'd hesitate."

"It doesn't anger you? They should be grateful to you for your services," Khan told her.

"No, it's fine," she reaffirmed. "This is all new. We just…all need time." She took a breath, and then asked him, "When will Mr. Weiss and Ms. Ling be sleeping?" She had gathered that since he had not assigned his two Commanders, now his head Bodyguards, to other lodgings, nor her, that they would all be sharing a shuttle. Not that she objected, of course. She was glad that at least faces she knew- even if they weren't precisely friendly- would be with her while she was asleep. She'd gotten used to them, already.

"Suzette and Joaquin have first watch," Khan answered. He stood up, meaning to leave.

"First wa- Wait!" she called out. "That… means we'll be alone tonight?"

He raised one dark eyebrow up, hands going behind his ramrod straight back. "Objections?" was all he asked.

"No," she stated, trying not to let her voice reach a high pitch. Why should she be nervous? She'd slept with him nearby, alone, before. That however was a single night, and he had stayed awake while she was sleeping, and they were in the middle of the jungle. The idea of being in anything remotely like a private room, alone, at night, when he might actually sleep, made her feel very, very shy and nervous. He left, but it didn't ease her feelings.

After she had finished eating and stood up, to get ready for bed, she felt something hit her on her back. She yelped, and reached to touch what had smacked in to her. She felt a wet and slimy something oozing down the back of her dress and down. Was she bleeding?! She drew her hand up, and nearly screamed when she saw red, but she realized from the smell that it was just a wad of stewed tomatoes. Someone had thrown them at her! She turned to look, but, while she saw several snickering faces, the culprit who threw the fruit was either gone or hidden.

Wonderful. She walked away, and did her best to wipe the worst of it off. It left her back feeling damp and she'd likely smell less than appealing later, but it would be fine. She knew she hadn't looked her best in ages, and her uniform had been through hell already. What was another stain?

This was how she entered the pod she was going to sleep in. Khan was there already, a tricorder in his hand. He seemed to be recording something, because she heard the last few words as she stepped inside.

"There is still much to be done." He snapped the tricorder shut, and then glanced toward Marla. He gave her that small quirk of his lips, his secret smile, and she glanced down. Then she bolted for the other side of the shuttle's cabin, tossed her pack on to the seat and started to get her blanket out of it.

"Well, goodnight," she said, rushed, and attempting to hide her back. Naturally she failed, and Khan was beside her in seconds- he had the speed of a panther! - And pulled the material away.

"What is this?" he demanded.

"That? Just tomatoes. A little joke, I guess. Nothing to worry about," she answered. Blow it off. It hadn't hurt, after all.

"This is a waste of food, and blatant disrespect," he said. "It shouldn't be tolerated."

"Well, the first, I agree, but the second, it wasn't disrespect it was just juvenile. I'm sure it won't be a regular thing," She moved further away from him, along the seats, and she tried to cover up again. "And, if we find water, then it's something that can be cleaned up."

"Who did it? Did you see?"

"My Lord" she said, voice firm. "It's fine. No, I didn't see, but I'm not going to make a big deal out of someone throwing something at me, unless it's a very big rock." She hoped the attempt at humor would diffuse the situation. "Besides, I've been walking around with burn holes and dried blood. Some tomato bits won't kill me."

Silence fell, and she thought that maybe he would go back to the other set of seats and sleep, but he didn't. As she wrapped the blanket around her, he said, "Some women would complain."

She thought about that. She would have, once. She might have. She didn't like it, and it was annoying, but it wasn't something she was going to whine about now. When had that changed? She didn't know, and it didn't matter. She shrugged.

"Perspective," she gave for answer. "In the grand scheme of things, what's complaining going to do?"

He canted his head a bit to the left. "Another surprise, Marla. You give me one after another."

"Thank you, Sir," she replied.

"No formalities, Marla, especially in private." He moved closer to her again, and she just scooted backward. He noticed. "Why are you running?"

"I'm not running," she told him.

"When I attempt to come close to you, you move away. Does my presence disturb you?" Was he offended by this? He did sound concerned. "Do I frighten you, Marla?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "Oh, God, no, no you don't. I… I'm sorry, I just…" Marla sighed. "I guess until now, I've been very… On edge and everything seemed to be moving a very fast pace, but now that it seems to be slowing down… Going to something easier, and less nerve-racking, I'm… I'm feeling a bit jittery. I mean, we spent days in the jungle, half expecting tigers or something worse to jump out and attack us, and now to be in a relatively safe place it's got me… derailed. I'm expecting everything to go wrong, maybe."

He considered this. "You don't trust it?"

"I want to," she said. "I want to, very much. And... I guess, maybe being the local leper or something will help get rid of that feeling-"

"You are as important to this settlement and its success as anyone else," he said, voice clear and firm and sure. "Never question that, and never doubt that. I need you as much as I need Joaquin and Suzette."

That made her body, which had been tensing steadily as the evening went on, relax completely. She bit on her bottom lip, and murmured, "I'm honored. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," he said as he moved close again. She didn't retreat this time. "You only need to remember this fact. You belong at my side." She could only nod again, and felt his words settle in to nice warmth in her chest.

With that barrier out of their way, he seemed as at ease as she was. He said to her, "I recall that a few days ago, you mentioned that _The Tempest_ was your favorite play. Why that, precisely, when Shakespeare wrote many others about great leaders?"

She smiled. Ah, a topic that she was happy to move on to. "Well, because in his own way, Prospero was a leader, and he was a man trying to make life for his daughter better. He thought of what she needed to survive and managed to succeed in his goals with wit and his special gifts. Do you have a favorite play?"

"_Hamlet_," he answered her.

"Really?" that was interesting. Then again, with his history of revenge, it wasn't all that surprising. "Do you sympathize with Prince Hamlet?"

"His father was murdered by his own blood, and his mother was faithless. All that was his by right was taken, and he was willing to sacrifice everything to avenge his father's death and to regain his honor. You could say I see his reasoning."

"Revenge isn't everything," she said. "Maybe if Hamlet had let go of his hate and forgiven his uncle, then the whole kingdom wouldn't have fallen."

"Perhaps, but then no one would have answered for their crimes," Khan retorted. This was looking like they'd hit a brick wall.

"Well, all the same, it gives us memorable soliloquies," she said, hoping to keep the conversation relaxed.

"_To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer the Slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune, or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, and by opposing end them._" She went silent as Khan quoted one of the most memorable soliloquies f the play. "_To die, to sleep no more; and by a sleep, to say we end the Heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks that Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep, to sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come_?"

"You'd know a lot about sleeping," she said, half entranced. He had spoken it so beautifully. He would have been a magnificent actor.

"And I have many dreams," he told her.

The mere mention of dreams made her tired, suddenly. She rubbed at her right eye. "I'm sorry, I think I really need to sleep now."

"You have every reason to need it." He stood up and walked closer, reaching down to stroke a single finger along her cheek. "Rest, my dear. We have much to discuss tomorrow, and many plans to make."

She gave him a tired smile, and said, "Goodnight, Khan."

"Sleep well, dear Marla." If he could say that forever, with that velvety voice, then she would die a happy woman. As she drifted off, she thought, '_Goodnight, goodnight. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight till it be 'morrow.'_

* * *

AN: Shakespeare gets them every time. But I won't stop at just quoting from there, folks, but that comes later! Again, comments, and critique are welcome.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Here's Chapter 12

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

Marla woke up the next morning feeling very refreshed, if only in her mind. The full night of sleep in something more comfortable than the humid jungle was helpful. She actually had missed the feeling of the escape shuttle's seats, even with their odd design. She sat up, and stretched then she looked around. Seemed that Khan had left already. Well, that was natural. He had to do his duty. But something new in the cabin caught her eye. She thought it was just his blanket, wrapped up. When she inspected the silver-sheened blanket, she saw that it had been reshaped and changed. On top of the blanket was a tricorder! She picked up the device, wondering if he left the one from their original shuttle, but saw a notice on the small screen. It meant a message had been recorded.

Out of curiosity, she clicked play.

"Marla," Khan's voice purred from the recording, "I hope that you will take notice of the gift I have left for you this morning. I have a very special task for you, today, and to accomplish it, you will need this tricorder. It is yours, now; keep it close at all times."

She would have been happy with that alone, but the message continued.

"In addition to your new tricorder, I've also left you something new to wear. You are no longer a member of Starfleet. That should be reflected. When you are dressed and ready, come find me." The message ended there.

She looked at the blanket, and she picked it up. When it unfolded, she saw that it had become in to a make-shift sari. She smiled.

_H_e_ gave me a new dress._

Without hesitation, she pulled off the blue dress from her old uniform, leaving the black, sleeveless officer's shirt on, and then she tried on the sari. She didn't have a mirror, but just wearing the garment that Khan had given her made her feel amazing. She ran her fingers through her hair a little, hoping to make it more presentable, then she picked up the gifted tricorder and her pack, and exited the shuttle.

The Augments of the settlement seemed to have spanned themselves out over the whole area of the camp. Some seemed to be practicing using their phasers, aiming for rocks to see how well they hit. She hoped they didn't use up the power on those before too long. Others were congregated together, talking amongst themselves. Whenever she passed by, though, regardless of what the groups were doing, they stopped talking and would stare at her. Well, she guessed the outfit didn't really make her one of them, or whatever Khan's intention was.

Really, if he'd wanted that, then it would have been good to give her a tan jumpsuit. Of course, there weren't any spare ones of those things, so, that wasn't an option, either. One way or another, she was bound to stick out.

She eventually found Khan, speaking with Weiss, Ling, and three other people. One was a red-haired man with freckles dotting his face, and a tall man with very dark skin, African maybe, and a pair of glasses. Another woman stood with them, taller than herself or Ling, but shorter than the men, with a red mehndi mark in the center of her forehead. She must be from India.

Khan turned his head toward Marla when she approached, eyes moving up, and then down. Was he pleased with how she looked in his gift?

"Marla," he sounded very pleased. "Thank you for joining us. I'd like to introduce Doctor Gideon Hawkins," he gestured to the African man, "Liam McPherson," the red-haired one, "And Parvarti Rao." That was the woman. She nodded and greeted them all, but Dr. Hawkins seemed like the only one inclined to give any greeting in reply.

"Liam was my Scientific Advisor," Khan explained, "And Pavarti part of Security. They, along with you, Joaquin, and Suzette, will be instrumental in today's endeavors. You mentioned last night that you thought it would be beneficial to seek out a source of water?"

"Oh, well," Marla began, "Yes. A fresh-water source would be prudent if we found any edible plants and attempted to grow crops here, as well as possibly being a means of finding animals to hunt." All creatures needed water. "As well as being a source of drinking water, cleaning, and, provided we find a river wide enough and fast enough, travel."

"Excellent," he said, his lips quirked in that 'smile' she was so fond of seeing. "You also said we would need to collect plant samples?"

"To test for which ones are safe to eat, yes."

"Then I've made the right choices," he stated. "You, Liam, and Dr. Hawkins will search for plants and other samples within the outskirts of the jungle, while Suzette, Joaquin, Pavarti, and I shall search for water." He turned to the two men who would be with Marla. "Bring back anything you find, and follow Marla's instructions on the use of your tricorders. If you encounter any predators in the jungle, shoot to kill."

Marla silently noted that they'd been given phasers, too.

"When our party returns, I will contact you," Khan then added, in conclusion, "And do not stray far from one another. The jungle is very perilous, and I will not lose anyone of you. A single loss would be devastating."

Marla knew that their doctor would be vital, and she also knew that their Science Officer was important. To be included in them and how much they were needed made her chest swell with pride. Khan gave the order for them to go, and then he turned, and led his own group away from camp, going westward, first. Since the ocean lay there, it stood to reason that maybe a stream or river that flowed in to it would be found.

She wanted to be going with Khan, but his plan was sound. Their doctor, science expert, and the person with the best knowledge of the planet, were the ideal choices for finding edible plants. She knew that he'd be back, anyway. Something inside of her said he would come back, certainly.

She walked forward, taking up the lead, now. "This way," she told the two men. "I remember some plants from the woods that seemed promising. Then we can look around after that." They didn't question or reply. They followed her up the incline out of the valley and went in to the dense, green jungle.

The air felt wet, close, and very heavy, once they were inside. She'd forgotten how that felt, even though she had been in these dense woods for a week. It was easy for them to find the various bushes and vines with different ripening fruits and flowering buds on them. She showed them the functions needed to scan the plants, and then they went up to each one they found and scanned.

What they found wasn't promising.

"Toxic," called McPherson, moving away from a plant with long purple 'peppers'.

"Toxic," echoed Dr. Hawkins, at a tree that had little yellow shoots growing around its trunk's base.

"Toxic," Marla joined in, scanning some plump orange berries. Damn. She'd been so eager for those to be safe.

This trend went on for nearly an hour, and soon they were getting very tired, when Mr. McPherson shouted over to her and Dr. Hawkins, "I've found something!"

She ran over, followed by the doctor, and they stood with the red-haired man over a plant. It sprouted up from the ground, with large stalks that were bent over with their fruit. The tops of the thick stamen-like stalks were covered in long, fat fruit. It was a berry, that was obvious. But what was more noticeable than the deep pink color of the berries was the smell. Oh, Lord, the plant stank worse than dirty socks rolled in rotting garbage!

"You can't be serious. That stinks!" objected Hawkins. "It can't possibly be healthy to eat."

"Plants can deter animals from eating it in many ways," McPherson said. "This must be its natural defense. Though, I do admit, this is overboard, even to me."

Marla moved closer to the plant, took a heavy stalk in her hand, and she scanned it. "Well, it certainly isn't toxic or hold any possible hidden dangers, that I can see," she said. "…We could cut them off and take them back to camp? Or try them here?"

"I don't like it, honestly" McPherson said, "But you are right. We need to take the opportunity."

"Who would want to try it though?" asked the doctor.

Marla sighed. She thought it over. Then said, "I'll try one."

"Are you sure you want to? What if the readings are wrong?" asked Dr. Hawkins. "What if you get sick? What if it has some hidden toxin?"

"Then it keeps you two, or anyone else from trying them," Marla answered. That and she doubted anyone but perhaps Khan would be affected by it if she died. She plucked one of the berries from the stalk, and then tentatively, fighting her natural reaction to the smell, popped it in to her mouth.

In contrast to the berry's smell, it tasted…sweet! Very sweet, and just a bit of a tartness coming up after. The interior, as she chewed, was like strawberries and raspberries in that it was abundant with little seeds. Seeds that, if she didn't get sick, could be planted and cultivated. She swallowed, and then looked at Dr. Hawkins.

"Use the tricorder," she told him. "Here. It's not designed for detailed medical work, but it can detect a few illnesses and injuries." She showed him how those functions worked, and then she held still as he looked her over.

"Nothing. You feel any different?" asked the doctor.

"No. I feel fine," she answered him.

"I want to keep an eye on you and check now and then," Hawkins replied, "But since it isn't reacting immediately…"

"Damn," said McPherson, shaking his head. "Well, I suppose these are better than having nothing, aren't they? Though, we'll need to come up with a name for them."

"Stink Berry doesn't sound very appealing, does it?" she said. That actually got a laugh from the red-headed scientist.

"No, it doesn't, Miss," he said. They found three more bushes of the pungent fruit, and they took their samples back to the camp.

After they had returned and Marla parted company with Dr. Hawkins and Mr. McPherson, she found a place to sit down, and got out her tricorder. It had been helpful to record things, before. She started to talk to the tricorder, now, recording her observations about the planet, thus far, and the plant they'd just discovered. No one approached her or talked to her in that entire time, save for when the doctor would return to check on her to make sure the berry wasn't making her sick, after all.

Khan's own party didn't return until nearly four hours afterward. Her tricorder had lit up and alerted her to his call, and she answered quickly. "Sir?" she said.

"We will be at the camp shortly," his voice said from the speaker. "Convene at the western perimeter."

She jumped to her feet and hurried, collecting McPherson and Hawkins on the way. All seven of them met up just at the edge of the established perimeter of the settlement. McPherson brought one of the berry stalks, which by now had lost much of its original odor. It seemed the bushes themselves would be the main source of their smell.

Once all had gathered, Khan announced his party's findings. "We've found water. A river two hours to the northwest. If we can move closer to it, then we will have no difficulties in future agricultural cultivation. Did you find anything in the jungle?"

"Just these," McPherson said, taking out the stalk. "These berries come from the stalks of a plant that has a very strong scent. The absolute worst stench possible, honestly, but once these clusters are cut, the smell decreases."

Khan looked from McPherson to Marla. "Is it edible?" he asked her.

"All the scans showed no toxicity for humans," she answered. "And I tried one. I'm perfectly-"

"What?" he growled. Oh. That wasn't good. "You tried it?" He glared at the other two men. "You let her?"

"Someone had to," Marla told him, "And between your Scientific Advisor, and your only doctor, I was the better candidate."

"You could have brought it back and had another within the camp try them," Khan countered.

She squared her shoulders as best she could, and said, "And any loss would be devastating. You said so yourself."

He seemed to be pushing back any remaining anger, with his own words repeated to him, and he took the stalk. He studied it, then pulled two berries from the cluster and tossed them in to his mouth. Marla tensed. Was he proving a point? She, and the others, watched while he chewed and swallowed them.

"A very misleading plant," he muttered before handing back the stalk to McPherson. "If these can provide both nourishment and repel dangerous animals and insects, we should place them strategically around our boarders.

"Before that, we will need to plan when and how to move our encampment. Come." He led them all in to his own shuttle and they discussed every method and all the times that would be most effective for the move. The most opportune time (preferably before any rainy seasons came up, which they no doubt would in this jungle planet) and estimated how long it would take in total. Perhaps a few days. Once they had concluded, he dismissed Marla, McPherson, and Rao.

"I have a matter to discuss with Dr. Hawkins," he told them. It seemed he would be keeping Ling and Weiss, too.

She left, knowing that meant that she would be eating dinner alone, again. McPherson said he was going to study one of the berries more closely, now that they were deemed acceptable, and he left her, as well. She looked at Rao, and before she could say anything, the Indian woman spun away and strode off. Well… Sometimes being right wasn't a nice feeling.

She collected her food for the night, and went to eat. While she did, she pulled out her tricorder to add in her further thoughts and observations. As she rattled off her thoughts, several sets of feet came up to her. She looked up to their owners.

Rao had returned, but she came with two other women. One was blonde, tall and slim, but with muscles that spoke of a woman used to long hours climbing and running. A very active life. The other, who stood at the front, had long, jet black hair, and striking features. Not only was she very beautiful, but with her deep tan and her combination of abundant, though not unattractive, muscles, she looked like she had been born from the fabled Amazons.

"You must think you're so important, don't you?" asked the Amazon woman. "Being Lord Khan's little pet? Don't let his attention go to your head."

"Have I done something to make you mad at me?" Marla asked the Augment. "I'm just trying to be useful."

"While running around after our Leader, with puppy-dog eyes?" The woman snorted. "Little bitches like you don't deserve to even breathe the same air as him," she said.

"I don't want any trouble," Marla said, "I'm just trying to help. Lord Khan said everyone would need to help."

"And so far he seems to like yours the most," the Amazonian ideal said. "From what Pavarti says, you mostly just talk. How does that help any of us?"

"I'm a Historian," Marla told her. "I know what's happened to different colonies in the past and how they survived, or how the failed."

"And will being a walking history book is going to help in other ways? Can you hunt? Can you fight? Can you last through torture for days?"

Marla stood up, and said, "I don't have to take this." She tried to leave, but the blonde woman grabbed her arm, squeezing tight and causing Marla to cry out in pain. Then she tossed Marla back toward the Amazon, who slapped the ordinary woman across her cheek.

"Don't walk away when your Superiors are talking to you!" the woman yelled as Marla hit the ground. Her cheek throbbed. Had it broken under the impact? She looked up, feeling fear freeze her from the inside.

Before any of the three women could assault her further, a man stepped up. He had very wide shoulders, and long blond hair. He reminded her of a Viking.

"Zuleika," the Viking man said (was that the Amazon's name?). "I think you should step back." His accent even placed him for Norway. He held both hands up, as if to show he had no weapons. Marla was sure his hands _could_ be, though, since Zuleika's had cracked her cheek rather badly.

"Stay out of this, Harulf," Zuleika spat at the Norseman. "This little dog needs to learn her place."

"I think she knows it. But you must admit," Harulf said to her, "What she has to say must be important if our Lord wants to keep her and seek her council. And she is the reason we are alive… Is that not reason enough to be a bit more… courteous with her?"

Marla's eyes flicked between the blond Viking man and the Amazon. Finally, Zuleika, Rao, and the blonde woman stepped away. Though Zuleika did glare down at Marla.

"The minute Lord Khan gets bored with you, little bitch, I'm going to make sure you remember how inferior you really are." At last, the women walked away. Once they were gone, the blonde man turned to her and reached his hand out.

"Zuleika has always admired Lord Khan," Harulf said. "She is only afraid that her own usefulness will be forgotten at this time." He took Marla's hand- his touch was light- and he pulled her up to her feet. "She was once a very capable assassin."

"That's comforting," Marla muttered, rubbing at where the blonde woman had grabbed her arm. Then she touched her cheek, and hissed. God, it hurt. "Thank you for helping me."

He smiled at her. "Harluf Ericsson. It was my pleasure, Miss Marla."

"You remember my name?" she asked, giving a mirthful laugh. "You actually bothered to remember?"

"How can I forget the name of the woman who saved us? Lord Khan trusts you," Harluf said, "And so do I. Do you need anything else to eat?" he gestured to the remnants of her food, which had been scattered when the women had stopped her from walking away. "I do not wish to finish my own."

"Oh…No, but thank you, Mr. Ericsson," she said with a light shake of her head. The ache in her cheek was getting worse.

"Harluf, please," he said.

"Marla!" Khan's voice rang out and Marla turned to see him walking forward. His ice colored eyes went from her to Harluf, and then back. "What are you doing?"

"I was…I was just talking with Harluf," Marla said.

"I was helping Miss Marla," Harluf said. He smiled amicably at Khan, and added, "Some of our dear sisters were a little rough with her."

Even before Harluf had mentioned it, Khan's eyes went to Marla's face and saw the growing bruise on her cheek, he cupped her chin, firm enough to hold her still but not to hurt her further, and he looked at it.

"Who was it?" he asked Marla.

"It was nothing," she said. "Just a misunderstanding."

"Who?" demanded Khan.

"Zuleika, with Pavarti and Amy Katzel," Harluf informed him. Why did he look smug? "I think they don't like her very much, My Lord."

Marla moved away from the men, and said, "Really! It's fine. I'll just get a compress from Doctor Hawkins. I'll see you shortly," she said to Khan, turning to leave. She felt humiliated. Even though Harluf probably meant to be helpful, she still felt badly about it. She didn't need to be the camp snitch, as well as the wilting flower.

She left them to get her cheek checked on, and retreat to the privacy of the escape shuttle.

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

Khan let Marla leave, and had to control the roiling anger deep in his veins. Had he not made it clear that she was important? If she were killed, their settlement might fail, and if she were distrustful of his people (fearful of the harm they could cause) then she would not want to help them. His hard work to gain her trust would be for nothing if this continued.

He looked at Ericsson, and felt something else simmering in his stomach. The Norwegian born Augment had been known for his more vitriolic nature and had been against their initial exile in to space, long ago. Though the man had done him a service in keeping Marla safe from the hands of her assailants, he did not trust that he had another reason for coming to her defense.

"What do you want with Marla, Ericsson?" he asked.

"I want nothing," the blonde superman replied. "As I said, I was only helping Miss Marla. She is not strong, and she is very small."

Khan let this sit in his mind. Then he asked, "What do you really want?"

He would not let this man lie to his face.

Ericsson's friendly smile shifted. It was no longer pleasant, but very calculating.

"She is pretty, and intelligent," Ericsson finally replied, his voice quiet. "It would be good to keep someone like her very close, yes? To be her friend? Someone that she trusts?"

How dare he? That was all that flared in Khan's mind. This man, who was less honorable than himself, who, even with his superior strength and genetic structure, was nothing compared to the great Khan! How could he even attempt to play the very game that Khan was playing so well? How dare he attempt to take Marla's trust, loyalty and her dependency away from him?

Khan moved closer and he sneered in Ericsson's face, "She. Is. **_Mine_**. If you come near her again- if you touch her, or so much as draw breath in her presence- then I will snap your neck and throw your corpse to the beasts in the jungle. Do you understand?"

"I would not dream of taking your toy away from you, my Lord," Ericsson said. "I only want to be able to play with her when you are finished." The Norseman then turned his back and walked away from the Sikh Augment.

He would not allow this. Any of this! He had been doing so well to gain Marla's complete devotion. Replacing her uniform with the sari this morning had been, to him, a very strategic move. She would distance herself further from her life before and become more indebted to him. She would want to be part of his family, and discard her association with Starfleet. It had worked! He wouldn't let the petty jealousies of women (women he expected so much more from) jeopardize that. Just as he would not let Marla become close to any man but himself.

_Why is it unacceptable?_

Just why did he hate the idea of Marla bonding to another man? If she were to grow affection for another within their settlement, would that not also gain her loyalty and her assistance?

It would not be as effective if she were entirely fixated on him, though, Khan reasoned. If she were to worship Khan alone, then she would willingly give him all of her knowledge. Then he could turn her in to whatever else he wished, once her usefulness as an advisor ran out. She would be willing to do anything he asked, simply because he requested it. She would not be so malleable if someone else had her heart.

That settled it. This called for a drastic measure. If he wanted full control of Marla McGivers, he would need to make her want to give him her heart, completely.

And he would need to claim it before anyone else could. Especially before Harluf Ericsson.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: I am so grateful for all the wonderful reviews and to know that you all enjoy this story! It's just barely begun, folks, so keep up. I promise, those with many questions will get them all answered in time. Now, on with the show!

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

In their impromptu living quarters, Marla still seethed quietly about the incident a few moments ago. She couldn't help herself. She felt as if she'd been labeled some horrible name. She felt as if she should be walking around with a scarlet letter on her chest, or something. And for what? For being an ordinary human. And now the bruise of her cheek would be a blatant reminder for quite some time. At least the cold gel-filled packet helped with the swelling. She was still in this put-out state when Khan entered the shuttle.

He crossed to her immediately, and sat next to her. She turned her head away.

"Let me look," he said, reaching out with is right hand to take her own, to move the pack from her face. His left tried to touch her chin to make her look at him. She pulled away, and stood up.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, going to the other side of the cabin. "God, everyone is treating me like I'm some sort of… Like I'm helpless or like I'm some doormat they can walk on! Or a punching-bag!" she shut her eyes. No. No she wouldn't cry. Not now. Not because of this.

"You were attacked by my people- people who should be grateful to you," Khan said, standing and coming up behind her. "And what is more, you will not even seek my help!" he sounded confused, and hurt. "I thought you trusted me, Marla."

She ducked her head, and answered, "I do trust you, Khan. But I don't want to hide behind you, either." She turned around to face him, head tilted back to look in to his face. "If I can't fight my own battles that will only prove that they're right; that I'm weak and useless."

He seemed quiet for a moment. His eyes were moving over face. Had she just upset him more by not taking his protection?

"I don't want to be a burden on you," she explained. "And if I can prove my worth, then I'll do what I have to."

"You do not have to prove yourself to anyone," he told her. His hands rose again, and he cupped her unharmed cheek, and then took the packet away from the bruised one. "I know your worth already, and that is enough."

His thumb stroking at her unmarked cheek made her realize just how close he was, and how intimately he was touching her. How gently and so carefully. She started to shake, her hands, her whole body trembling. She tried to look anywhere else but at him, now.

"You're…not upset with me?" she asked him.

"Why should I be? I doubt you provoked the women who attacked you," he said, while his fingertips trailed backward. His first and second finger moved lightly over the back of her ear. "And I was not there to prevent it. I should have been."

"Your people need you," she said. "It's your responsibility as their Leader."

"_You_ are one of my people, now," he asserted. He bowed his shoulders and head down closer to her own, while his hands guided her to look up at him. "If I cannot protect even a single member of my family, especially if I cannot keep them safe from within, how can I lead them all?"

Their eyes locked together in that instant, and when they did, Marla's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what he was going to do, but just this: just this moment, with only his hands on her face, just their eyes meeting, had her heart thundering inside of her chest. When his eyes broke the contact, closing while he leaned down to press his forehead to hers, she was breathing again. Shallow, short, shaking breaths, puffed from her slightly parted lips while their noses bumped together. All she could think was, '_oh God!'_ She could feel the warmth of air escape from his nose as he breathed in and out.

In seconds, he had let her go and stepped away, his back to her. She didn't know what had happened. It had happened and then was over so quickly. She gulped and asked quietly, "K-Khan?"

"That was inappropriate," his voice rolled out softly. "Forgive me." Marla couldn't believe her eyes. He was being _bashful_?! Or was that shame? She hoped it was the first. How odd. He wore it well, though his confidence and strength set better on him. He glanced back at her, over his shoulder, and asked, "Did you enjoy the gifts I left you?"

It took Marla a minute to come out of her stupor from their almost…whatever that had been.

"Oh! Yes. Yes I did," she told him. "I do, still. Thank you for letting me have a tricorder. And for this." She stroked the shoulder drape of the blanket-sari. "I can't believe you made something so nice with a shuttle blanket."

"A simple thing," he said, "I was born in India, after all. It was something I quickly learned, among other skills."

"So, combat, warfare, strategy and fashion?" she asked, unable to stop the touch of humor in her voice.

"As well as sculpture and weapon-craft." He turned fully around again, hands going behind his back. "I can make a bust from clay as easily as I can carve a bow from wood, or hone a knife from rock."

"That's amazing," she said, with all the meaning in the word.

"But only a few of those skills were ever useful," Khan added.

"Why would you learn an artisan skill?" she asked him.

"For the same reason I read the works of the poets and great authors. Out of boredom, and to appease my curiosity."

"It's such a shame," Marla said, easing in to the seats of the cabin. "I would like to see you sculpt something."

He joined her on the seats, though kept the distance he had placed between them. "I would have been proud to show you my work."

She tilted her head a little. "I wish I had my paints and canvas, still," she mused. "I used to paint, in my free time, even on the _Eden_. You would make a good subject for a painting. You have very classic features."

"That is a pity," was his reply.

The silence between them was heavy, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was instead a quiet, relaxing feeling. Eventually, however, she had to move aside and gather her blanket, and bid him goodnight.

As she felt sleep coming to her, she heard his voice speak softly, "_O, sleep a little while, white pearl…_"

* * *

The next three weeks were not the easy in the least. Even for enhanced super-soldiers with massive amounts of strength, taking their temporary homes and all of their stores of food was tiring. They had had to place the shuttles near enough to the water that they could easily walk to it, but not so close that, should the stormier seasons come with torrential rains, they would be flooded. While the shuttles were designed for water landings, they couldn't float indefinately. They also needed to be able to cultivate the Comp Berries (short for Compost Berries, the name given to the very odiferous fruit they had discovered) and anything else they may find as they moved closer to the mountains. They also had to be careful of new predators. One evening, when they had had to stop, a massive serpent, not unlike the Titanboa, had taken a man. Dmitri Blasko, a chemist. The creature, stretching 40 feet in length, had hard knots on the top of its cranium, and when found, they could still see the massive lump of the digested Augment man in its belly.

Khan's vengeance on the serpent had been swift. He, Weiss, and Harluf Ericsson had taken the massive serpent together. Marla could still remember watching, from a distance, after they had given chase to the snake, how it had wrapped its coils around the Viking-like man, while Weiss tried to keep it from strangling and crushing him. It was Khan who took the kill with a blast from his phaser to the soft scales just under its jaws. Using a make-shift knife from a hastily sharpened stone, they had attempted to cut Blasko's body from the snake, in hopes that he may yet be saved, but, sadly, when they retrieved him, it was too late.

Upon their return, Khan looked to the rest of his people, and he said, "I will let no one else die. If you cannot master your phasers, we will make our own weapons!"

In the days after, they had made many deadly weapons. Bows from the jungle wood, arrows with sharp arrow-heads carved out from river stones. They made knives, and, after a hunting trip to the mountains, they even discovered rocks large enough to make in to massive clubs, and to hewn and sharpen for axes. For added measure to their new arsenal, they started to have men, and women, stand guard at their boarders. Watching and ready to defend at the first sign of danger.

Once fully seated in their permanent home, Marla, along with Mr. McPherson, had begun to discuss possible methods of making sod for equally permanent houses. The shuttles really were not equipped to serve as housing, and there had been talk by many about stripping the metals down and melting them to make better weapons and items. She couldn't disagree with that being a good choice. She found that Mr. McPherson was a very amiable person to talk to, and he seemed to value her opinions and words almost as much as Khan did. She still disliked science, really, but they got on well for their work and the good of the settlement's survival.

She also had grown closer to Dr. Hawkins. He was a good and very light-hearted man, by nature- quick with a joke, which made for an easy bed-side manner. She felt more at ease with him around to make situations more humorous. Especially since there was still some animosity around the camp concerning her presence.

Then there was Harluf. He still came by to talk to her, though after the first few encounters she noticed he did so when Khan was busy or away to scouting missions. But really, it didn't matter to her. As far as Marla was concerned, one more friend meant one less person plotting to beat the ever-living daylights out of her. She could stand to have more friends. Especially ones who actually treated her like a person, and used her name. He would always address her as 'Miss Marla', and even had respect for her.

It seemed that more and more of Khan's time was being taken up with either scouting or running the settlement. It left her feeling lonely, even with the few allies she really had. When she wasn't called to him to help with plans or to offer insight on anything, their contact was limited. But it was still there. It was in glances made, by him or by her, eyes passing over the other. It was in a brief touch of his fingers over her arm or at her hand when he passed by. It was in the ghost of a hand passing over her hair, felt when half-asleep as he returned to their shuttle at night. That last might have been made up in a dream, but for Marla, it counted. Otherwise, she missed him. Badly.

One late afternoon, as the heat of the day began to die away, while she stood with Khan, McPherson, and the others of the 'inner circle' to discuss the possibility of another trip in to the mountains for minerals for building or to seek out more edible plants, one of their boarder scouts, she thought his name was Daniel, came up to them.

"My Lord!" the young man with short blonde hair shouted, "My Lord! I think I saw them- those animals you told us about; massive, hairy bison! I saw them across the river!"

The dark-haired leader broke away, and called, "Marla! I need you to confirm it!" She followed him obediently. They reached the river-bank, and looked out over in to the distance, across the rolling blue waters. She squinted at the animals so far away.

"I wish I had binoculars. But from this distance, since it's a herd formation… I'd say it's very likely that they're the Ceti Bison," she said, smiling.

"Excellent," Khan breathed. "The boa meat is almost gone." He turned to Weiss and McPherson. "Joaquin, find Ericsson, Pavarti, and Doctor Hawkins. Liam, you stay here." He looked to young Daniel, and said, "You will come with us, as well. Gather weapons- as many as you can carry and what you can use confidently. We will bring home fresh meat." He sounded as if he were relishing the idea of a proper hunt.

His focus turned to Marla and he told her, "Return to camp with Liam and look over what was collected from the last mountain trip. Scan them thoroughly and catalogue everything."

She nodded, "Yes, Sir," and left, feeling his gaze on her back. She would have enjoyed it if she weren't worried. The Bison were herbivores, but they were still massive creatures, and had hooves that could potentially crush even an Augment's skull.

He would return, though. She had every confidence that he would make it. She only hoped he wasn't hurt.

She and McPherson went back to the camp and sat together, looking over a blanket that held various items and bugs brought back from the last mountain-scouting. She took up a few shoots that reminded her of green onions, and scanned them.

"Toxic," she said, sighing. "But it seems to read similar to Milkweed plants, particularly this sticky secretion. If we take these they could be applied to rashes."

"Gideon would love that, then," McPherson said.

The next was a fat, but slimy grub. "Well, of course _this_ would be edible."

"The worst things usually are." He set aside a purple flower. "Toxic leaves."

"But pretty," she observed.

McPherson picked up a black insect, about the size of his thumb, and stopped. "Well! That's very interesting," he said, smiling and lifting his tricorder to scan it. He'd gotten very proficient with the device in the short time he'd had it.

Marla moved over to look at what had him fascinated. "Larvae?" she asked. Under the black bug were tiny, wriggling, shiny black larva that seemed to still be clinging to the dead parent.

"Seems so." He checked the readings. "Hm, the parent is edible, but the larvas seem to have a neurotoxin in them. I'd like to study these for a bit."

"You can go right ahead, but be careful. They have that toxin for a reason, let's not find out how it gets transmitted."

"Oh, I know," McPherson said. "These things are astonishing. They look like eels…"

When he'd finally set the bug and its offspring aside, they returned to their sorting, and catalogued all the data. By their task's end, it was nearly dark.

"They're late," she said softly.

"Or the herd ran from them and they had to chase. In any case, don't be worried," McPherson assured her. "Just look forward to some fresh meat that doesn't have an aftertaste like shoe-leather."

"Hey," she countered, "I lived for a few days on spongy-cardboard bread! I can handle shoe-leather snake meat." They shared a laugh at that, and the red-haired scientist picked up the insect he had been taken with before.

"I'm going to study these eel-larvae a little more."

"Suit yourself," she replied. They said their farewells, and she left him. She headed for the river. She couldn't help but want to make sure that Khan and the others returned safely.

She wasn't even half-way through the camp when she was grabbed by Zuleika and Amy.

"And just where are you going, little dog?" asked Zuleika as she pulled on Marla's right arm, while Amy had her left. Marla struggled in their grasp.

"Let me go!" she shouted. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because I'm tired of seeing your ugly, squat face," Zuleika answered, dragging her through the camp to the rebuilt fire-pit. "And I'm tired of our Lord's special treatment for you." A crowd began to gather as they witnessed Zuleika and Amy dragging her around. They must have been waiting for a chance to do this for a while- taking the chance while the people who would actually help her were gone.

Amy grabbed Marla's left arm, then, and Zuleika grabbed the material of Marla's sari. "First, we'll teach you some humility," Zuleika informed her as she pulled, tugged, and finally got the blanket-dress off of Marla's body, leaving her in her old Starfleet shirt and her underwear. Marla tried to bend over to hide her exposed lower-half. The crowd actually cheered for Zuleika.

"See this!" the Amazon woman said, holding it up. "She thinks she looks better than us!" The other women in the crowd hissed and sneered at Marla, then shouted for joy as Zuleika tossed it in to the fire. Then she and Amy both held her arms again, and she forced Marla to turn around. Marla fought. She jerked, scrambled her feet, kicked (though missed often), and her few contact hits didn't faze either of them. But Zuleika still pulled the back of Marla's shirt up, exposing her burn scars.

"Look at this! These scars! These are the proof of how inferior she is! None of _us_ would have these!" she cried out to the crowd. Then the two women shoved Marla back and the smaller woman stumbled to the ground.

"You are _nothing_," Zuleika told her as she walked up to Marla, and loomed over the ordinary woman. "You don't belong here with us, and you need to learn your place, little bitch. Now is the time for that lesson."

Marla's arm went back, and she felt her hand cover something. A rock? This was one of the stones they used to frame the fire pit… Had it gotten loose? It was still warm, too! But it was enough. She stood up, shaking and shuddering. If anyone around them saw what she'd picked up, they didn't say. Instead, she stared at the Amazonian woman, returning the dark-haired Augment's hate with her own defiance. She summoned up all the courage and ire in her smaller body, then. She would not run from this fight.

"I am _not_ nothing," Marla told her. "And I'm not a dog, or a bitch, or inferior. I am flesh, and blood, and bone, _just like you_- and I won't let you keep treating me like this!" She then ran at Zuleika, hand up, and used the rock palmed in her hand to strike against the Augment woman's face. It made a loud _Crack_! Zuleika's head whipped away from the impact. Zuleika stepped back. Marla took several steps backward, too, and the crowd fell silent. Zuleika raised her hand up. The light of the fire revealed that blood was trickling from the Amazon's mouth. Was…that a tooth? Marla had knocked her tooth out!

Zuleika's dark eyes turned toward the smaller woman, then, full of wrath. She shrieked, and threw her massive form at Marla.

"YOU RUINED MY FACE!" she shrieked. She grabbed Marla by her hair, making her scream, and the tall Amazon's other hand grabbed Marla's neck. She started to squeeze.

"I'll kill you, you bitch!" Zuleika seethed, blood spitting out between her lips with each word. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

As the Amazon's fingers tightened around her throat and Marla felt her brain fogging up, close to blacking out, a noise filled the air. A deep, loud bellowing that could send fear in to the heart of any living creature. And a dark mass burst from the crowd, slamming in to Zuleika, causing her to let go of Marla. As she lay on the ground, gasping for air, Marla felt a hand on her shoulder. Looked up. Dr. Hawkins! That meant-

"My Lord, no! Please! Sir!" Zuleika was begging. She sounded terrified. While Hawkins checked over Marla, she looked over to see Khan, on top of Zuleika, holding her down with his legs pressed to her chest, while he held a knife at her throat. Amy, Zuleika's accomplice, was being detained by Harluf, his spear pointed up under her chin.

"Give me a single reason why I should not slit your throat and let your blood soak the ground, you moronic, mewling quim." Khan's voice was a true and very deep growl. The rage and utter disgust in his tone surpassed Marla's memory of her first encounter with Khan. His anger for her, a Starfleet officer, was nothing compared to what he showed one of his own kind, at this moment.

"Sh-She hit me!" Zuleika offered, weakly. "Look what she's done to my face!"

"I would have done far worse, had I been here," he told her with no remorse or sympathy. But he got off of her chest, rose to his feet, and went to Marla's side. Now that he was nearer, she saw that he was nearly covered in blood. They must have had a successful hunt, then. She hoped none of that blood was his.

"What are her injuries?" he asked Dr. Hawkins.

"Bruising on her arms. Near strangulation, that's already bruising up well. Her trachea seems fine, but she shouldn't talk for a while," the doctor answered. "And I'd put some clothes back on her, too."

Khan went back to Zuleika. He looked her in the eye, then commanded, "Strip."

"What?" gasped the Augment woman.

"I. Said. _Strip._" He obviously would not order her again.

Zuleika unzipped her jumpsuit, pulled off her boots, and stripped down to an old tank-shirt and white shorts that hugged on to her thighs and hip.

"Give that to me," Khan ordered, next, gesturing to the jumpsuit on the ground. Zuleika obeyed. He summoned Ling over, and handed it to her, and said, "Give this to Marla."

The bodyguard brought the suit over to Marla, who took it, and watched as Zuleika tried to stand and look less humiliated in her own under-wear. Khan held the stripped-down superwoman with his blood-freezing stare.

"You will suffer the same humiliation that you placed upon this woman. The rest of your punishment I will deliver to you later." As he turned away from her, he said to the rest of the camp, "I am_ ashamed_ of all of you. That you would allow this to happen in my absence. If we fight amongst ourselves, then what will become of dream that we all shared?" he let his soul-piercing stare pass over the assembled. "Let it be known, now, that the woman Marla McGivers is under _my_ protection. If anyone else attempts to bring her harm, I will not hesitate to deliver punishment. If you attack _any_ of your fellow colonists, I will seek retribution. Do you all understand?"

There were nods, and a few soft replies of, 'Yes, my Lord'. He called Weiss over. While he had been talking, Marla had been helped to her feet by Doctor Hawkins, and gotten in to the jumpsuit.

They walked away, going to the Medical Shuttle. On the way, Ling asked Marla, "How did you knock out her tooth?"

Marla swallowed. God, her throat hurt! But she managed to croak out, "Rock."

Ling smiled at her. "Nice." She actually sounded like she meant it.

Weiss and Ling stood guard outside of the shuttle while Marla had a more thorough exam with the Doctor. Khan stayed close, arms crossed over his chest. After the doctor had repeated what injuries the woman had sustained, they left and returned to their own dwelling.

"Do not let anyone enter unless I give them permission," he ordered his guards, and he helped Marla inside.

Marla stood in the center of the cabin. Khan had his back to her, hands still on the handle of the door. She didn't know what to do, and it hurt to talk or breathe through her mouth. Breathing through her nose, she waited for him to say something. Anything, really.

When he turned around and walked up to her, he didn't move like a human. With red blood, drying on his cheek and smeared across his pale skin, he didn't look like one, either. He looked every bit like the non-human, strange thing that he was. Even his eyes had lost their coldness, and now felt more like hot, blue flames. He looked over her face with those burning eyes, down her body. Up again.

"You were attacked, again," he rumbled.

She nodded. It was all she was capable of doing without hurting much.

"And you," he inhaled deeply, "Defended yourself… with a rock." He sounded as if he could either laugh or scream about that. She just nodded, again.

His hands rose up. His eyes held on to her own amber-brown ones, as his fingers wrapped around her shoulders. She held still, feeling all at once anxious and…well, to be honest with herself, more afraid of him now than she had been when he'd woken up and nearly strangled her. More afraid than when Zuleika tried to kill her tonight.

In the barest blink of an eye, his plump, full lips were on hers, and he pushed her back until she hit the back wall of the shuttle. She made no sounds and didn't move at all as her brain tried to catch up to what was happening. He started to press the full, hot length of his long body against hers, pinning her in place, while his lips practically devoured hers. Then she finally, shaking and worried she may fall apart in his hands, kissed him back. She moved her arms up, hands fisting the still blood-wetted shirt, and opened her mouth to his, letting him invade it with his tongue. He snarled, then, and pulled his mouth away from hers to move it down to her neck, where he kissed against her bruises.

The touch to her still tender throat made her whimper, and she pushed at his thick shoulder.

"K-Khan," her voice cracked, still too abused, too sore. She let out a croaking-yelp and forced out, "Stop!"

He froze. She took tiny, rapid breaths. Slowly he pulled himself away from her, and walked backward to the door to the shuttle. He turned away and opened the door, climbing out. Not a word was spoken. As the door shut with a clang, she dropped down to the floor. She shuddered from her head to her feet.

What in the name of God just happened?!

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

He paced, back and forth along the riverbank. He moved with all the grace and the forbidding air of a panther locked up inside of a cage.

_I am in a cage_, he thought.

When he had told Jim Kirk and Commander Spock, in a time that seemed like ages ago, that he was a savage, he had meant it. He was bred and born to be so. Born to be a pitiless, merciless, completely animalistic killer in the heat of battle. Taught to be ruthless when he was seeking victory, and not to look back with any regret once he had achieved his goal. He thrilled in the chase- the hunt- and he reveled in the spill of blood, the finality of a well-placed kill. For all his intellect and his genius, he was still a dangerous killer.

This afternoon's hunt of the bison had been so very good for that buried need for such violent delights. He and his hunting party- his best and strongest men and women for the job (though Ericsson had been included to keep him away from Marla. He had noticed his patterns) had taken down two massive, hulking creatures, with their stone knives and their primitive arrows, and a few well-aimed phaser shots. When he had sliced in to the things with his own knife, letting the blood splatter and smear on his clothes and his face (now dry and making his shirt and trousers stiff from it, flaking off of his cheek) he had felt _alive_ again. Along with that sensation of being the most powerful hunter on the planet, he had felt the elation of knowing, in the more rational part of his brain, that he had provided meat, as well as valuable skins to be used for many, many purposes. He had proven his mettle as their Lord Emperor.

However that rush of chemicals to his brain had also made it difficult for him to hold back his wrath when he had returned to the camp, met Liam at the river, and heard that Marla was being attacked by Zuleika, again. He had had to fight all of his instincts to break the Augment woman apart, and let her bleed out in front of the masses. Even with this blatant violation, he could not lose any more of his people. One was too much. Any more, especially the women (vital to making the population of their race spread) was unacceptable.

Yet, Marla…

_Oh, Marla._

She had given him yet another unexpected turn. Rather than run, hide, or seek out help, she had attempted to fight off the threat. She had shown her brilliance again, and her tenacity, in a way that could not be questioned.

"_When angry she is keen and shrewd,_" he said to the darkness of the night, while he continued his stalking along the river. "_Though she be but_ little_, she is _fierce." He stopped and threw his head back, and laughed. Laughed to the stars and the glowing yellow orb of Ceti Alpha VI.

With these things in his mind, and the thrill of the blood lust still singing in his veins, he had nearly lost control of himself and pounced upon her. He had wanted to take hold of her, pull the ferocity and tenacity that was hidden deep inside that tiny human woman, and make it a part of himself. He had wanted to take her apart in an entirely different way!

She had awoken in him a savagery that he had not known he could feel.

Oh, he had begun to admire her in ways, he would not deny that. But her mind had been what he coveted. He was willing to do anything, even play-act as the noble King to gain her loyalty; even if he had to seduce her to keep anyone else from utilizing that brain before he could squeeze every ounce of knowledge from her. He had even begun to respect that she had a will, and that she could stand up to a challenge when issued one.

He had never expected this. This pure, primal lust.

Her mind was not enough, now. He still needed it for the survival of his people, but this new sensation (this _want)_ made it clear. He couldn't play the reserved 'noble' lover, anymore. He would rip out of his own skin if he had to do that, now. He had to have her. He had to take her!

_Not yet_, his reason reminded him. No, he did have to wait. Let her body heal from the abuse it had suffered. Let his own loss of control pass- apologize to her, make it clear that he was still worthy of her trust- and _then_, then he would claim her soft little body. With that he would have this awakened hunger sated, have her brilliance to use to enhance his kingdom, and her devotion to let him rule over her, and no one-

_Not anyone_

-Would be able to take her away from him.

He would have her entirely. Body, mind, and soul.

* * *

AN: I think I'd like to take this time to point out that in the near future… there will be smut. Not hard-core, crazy smut, but sexy-fun times are ahead. Obviously, as this is an 'M' rated story, and it's not just for the gore, the blood, and the very blatant violence. So, if you are under the age of 18, or if you are not a fan of the very strong smuts, I suggest skipping the next chapter or two. If you however are exempt from the two exceptions above, get yourselves ready. _Hint hint, wink wink._


	14. Chapter 14

AN: I hope you all like the new 'Book Cover' I made for this story! I wanted to do something cool with the faces of Cumberbatch and my personal choice for Marla, but… Well, I'm bad at that sort of Photoshop, lol! I hope my artistic rendition of space and Ceti Alpha V are enough! Anyway… I believe I promised something good this time?

* * *

Khan didn't return that night.

Marla was at a loss for what had happened, or what to say. But being left alone after it, and not being able to talk to _anyone_ because of her injuries, was possibly worse. She at least wanted the company! She lay in the shuttle along the poorly designed seats, wrapped up in one of the blankets. She was sore from the confrontation with Zuleika, but that wasn't what was bothering her at all. What had her knocked for a loop was the fact that _Khan_ had _kissed_ her. Full on, greedily kissed her with complete abandon! She'd been terrified just seconds before it happened because she had no idea what he was going to do in answer to her actions at the fire-pit. She certainly hadn't expected _**that**_!

_Dear God_, she thought, _what a kiss!_

When she shut her eyes, she could almost feel it again. The press of his mouth on hers; so hard and hungry. She could even recall how it felt to have his body- a body she'd dreamed about (even had nightmares about) since the moment she saw him- pressing up against her. If she hadn't just had herself throttled to within an inch of her life, she might not have stopped. Or maybe she would have stopped because of how good it felt.

She whimpered. Why did she always doubt? Even a little? She sat up carefully, and went to the door of the shuttle, and opened it up. She looked out. Then started to climb out.

"I don't think so," said Ling, who was standing just to the right. "Our Lord said that you're going to stay in there until you're better."

Marla tried to protest, but Ling interrupted her. "No, don't do that, either. He talked to Doc. Hawkins, and if you try to talk, it'll delay the recovery time. Unless you want another dose of our blood in you, you'd better stay quiet, and let yourself heal. Consider it a break, or something. You've pretty much been going since the second we got set up, anyway."

Marla sighed and started to go back inside.

"Hey, Future Woman," Ling called, "When you get better, I'm teaching you some hand-to-hand moves. Throwing rocks can only go so far, you know."

Marla smiled. So, yesterday hadn't been a one-off. Ling was being nicer. She hoped this meant she'd gained the Asian Augment's respect.

For four days straight, Marla was confined to the shuttle. And in those four days, she heard nothing from Khan. She didn't see him, and neither Ling nor Weiss mentioned anything when they brought her food. The whole thing was driving Marla crazy! On top of being essentially hospitalized and segregated, she was also bored out of her mind! This was worse than when she'd been floating in space with the whole lot of the superhumans all asleep! There were people out there that she could interact with, and, apparently, she wasn't allowed to!

The monotony didn't ease until Dr. Hawkins came to give her an exam. He checked the bruising on her arms, and around her neck. They were still deep purple ringed with yellow.

"It'll be a while longer before these fade away," the doctor told her. "Normally I'd suggest a scarf to hide them, if you're self-conscious," he added. "But at least you can talk again. Just don't be yelling anything."

"Thank you," she said softly. A thought occurred to her, and she asked him, "Doctor, when I first woke up Khan, he… treated some burns on my back. He injected me with his blood."

"That's not surprising," Hawkins said, "Our blood and other cells were designed to regenerate and recover quickly from injuries. We use that particular method as a last resort, and it's considered taboo to use our blood on non-Augments, but Lord Khan has his own reasons for the things he does. Obviously it helped."

She nodded slightly in agreement. "His blood healed my burns and… other things." She sighed. "But, normally doing that- putting blood of an unknown type in to someone- is dangerous."

"For ordinary people," Hawkins agreed, "It is. But, our blood was designed to simulate Type O- the Universal Donor. That way, if we ever needed transfusions from one another, we would always match."

"But…that's impossible."

"It was laboratory tested, and government mandated in some cases, at the time," he countered. Then he packed his things away. Before he left, though, Marla took the time to ask him two important questions.

"Doctor? I'm sorry… Where is Khan?"

He paused at the door. "He's overseeing the tanning of the bison hides, and the Sod project. He's been very busy."

The sod project? Hers and McPherson's- Liam's- project? She smiled. Then she asked, "What happened to Zuleika?"

"Oh, she's had some time to cool off," said Hawkins. "Don't worry about her."

That didn't help Marla's worries. But she thanked him and let him be on his way.

The morning of the fifth day, the shuttle's door opened, and Khan stepped through. Marla looked up and knew she knew she looked too happy to see him. She felt entirely too happy to see him. As soon as he was inside, she leapt to her feet.

"Khan," as she approached, she found she had no idea how to greet him. After being kissed senseless, did you hug the person who turned your brain in to mush? Did she greet him as she used to, with cordiality? Was a handshake weird? She had no idea. At least the man inside with her now looked as if he could be human. That strange, yet alluring, thing that had pressed itself against her seemed to be gone.

She wasn't sure she wanted it to be entirely gone, though.

He looked down at her with ice-blue eyes, but the expression did not look cold. If anything, he seemed to be apprehensive. That wasn't a look she associated with the proud, strong Khan Singh.

"Forgive my absence during your recovery," he said, moving around her to enter the center of the cabin. He held a blanket-bundle against his chest. "I would have come sooner, but… I was unsure if you still wanted my company."

She laughed, it hurt her throat a bit, and then she quieted the sound. "Why would you think that? I've been bored to death in here, with no one to talk to."

"You would not have been able to talk," he stated.

"Well, then, no one to talk _at_ me while I listen." She moved closer to see what he had brought. "What's this?"

"Something to help you in the future, should you need it." The item he picked up from the fabric looked like a white stick, at first, but no such wood grew in the jungle. It took her a moment to recognize that it was bone. And as he handed it to her, she realized precisely what it was.

"You made… You made a bone knife!" she said, astonished, and mesmerized. The design on the outer case was intricate and delicately carved. On the front, and the back, the exact same design was featured. When she pulled the knife itself out, she saw that the whole of it had been carved out from one single bone. It was sharpened very finely, the flat of the blade smooth and without a single blemish visible. She put the knife back in to its sheath.

"It's beautiful," she said. "And… you really want me to have it?"

"You need other methods of protecting yourself, though I doubt anyone within the camp will attack you again," he explained. "But better to be prepared."

She felt heat going to her cheek. "You trust me with a weapon, though."

"You deserve something more refined than a phaser, and it will be some time yet before I can make a sling for you."

That took her by surprise. "You want… You want to make a sling? For me?"

"You did have proficiency, I believe." He grinned. Oh, how she missed that smile! It was a rare thing, and when he showed it to her, it made her feel lighter than air.

She covered her mouth. Too much. She thought it would be too much. "…Did you make the carvings, too?"

"I did," he confessed. "It is in the Hindi language. It says, 'Though she be little, she is fierce'."

The quote made her giggle. And the giggle made her wince and cough.

He turned, and picked up the blanket itself. "This was recovered from the fire." He shook the fabric out, and held it up.

"Thank God for fire-proof fabric," Marla said with a big smile.

"Apparently my people did not consider that fire-resistant material would be perfected by the 23rd Century." He chuckled softly, and it made Marla's upper spine shiver.

She took the sari, however, and sniffed it. "Though it still smells like smoke."

"Ah, I could do nothing for that." That made them both start to laugh, his chuckle joining in chorus with her restrained giggles.

After the laughing had subsided, she said to him, "I really did miss you." It was a lot to admit, but it was true! She had missed this, these strange and unexpected moments of laughter, and their conversations together. Being without them had been absolutely horrible.

He looked away from her. Glance cast downward. "You had already been through too much trauma," he told her. "And you were in enough pain. I," he paused. What was wrong? She had never seen him look this way before. His brow furrowed, his lips turned down now in scowl or frown, but not the least bit of their humor from moments ago present. She waited for him to continue, if he would.

"I did not trust myself to be gentle with you." His voice was a whisper, but the strain in it spoke volumes. And it made Marla's heart ache. He wove around her as he headed for the door, and said, "You may change your clothes, if you want, but when you've finished, join us. Liam wishes to share his studies on the larva the two of you discovered."

After the door shut, Marla looked down at these new gifts. The knife was, truly, beautiful, and wonderfully crafted, and it gave her a much better idea of what artistic abilities the Augment Leader possessed. It also made her feel so glad, to know that he trusted her enough to give her a weapon! She wouldn't have to feel so vulnerable anymore.

She changed out of the jumpsuit and back in to her sari. It was amazing how a simple change of clothes made you feel. She had thought that wearing the same thing as the others around her would make her feel more like them, but since it was Zuleika's suit, and she had been confined away from the rest of the colony, it had the opposite. The sari made her feel, strangely enough, more like herself again. When she finished, she climbed out of the shuttle, and was led by Ling to meet with McPherson and Khan.

The walk revealed that quite a lot had happened while she was away. She saw skins drying near the fire pit, stretched out in the sun, and there were people knelt on the ground, with rectangular wooden molds, forming bricks! She would need to ask what their sod was made from, but she suspected it was a mixture of gravel and rock from the mountains, with mud and leaves from the jungle.

"Liam says if those hold up through the rain, then we'll be able to have houses in a year or so," Ling said.

Marla smiled, "This is amazing. I'm watching history unfolding right in front of me."

"Was this really how they did it back then? During the middle ages?" Ling asked her.

She figured Ling meant the Medieval times.

"Oh, in many places during that time they utilized stone, and had hammers, nails, and other materials. This method predates the time of Christ," Marla explained.

"Still, it'll be nice. An actual house," Ling mused.

"Did you mean it before?" Marla asked her. "About… teaching me how to fight?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I hadn't meant it," Ling confirmed. "I'll go easy on you, but I want your best, hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Marla replied.

They stopped at the Hospital Shuttle, and Marla went inside. She found Liam with Dr. Hawkins and Khan, looking over the body of a bird, the head cut open in the back, several of the beetles, and three still wriggling larva.

"Miss Marla," Liam said, looking up. "I'm glad you're doing better. Now that you're here, I can share my findings." He looked at their leader and the doctor, "You'll all find this interesting." He used a pair of tweezers to pick up the first larva. "I wanted to know how these creatures used their neurotoxin. So, I caught one of the indigenous birds, and began by feeding a larva-coated parent beetle to it. There was no change in the least. Then I tried a paste of ground larva and fed that to the bird. Again, no change. Then, I attempted to attach them, like leeches. At first there was no change, but I had to leave for a bit to oversee sod preparation. When I returned, the bird seemed to be in the middle of a seizure, flailing around and attempting to get out of its restraints.

"Within minutes, the bird dropped dead, seemingly of its own accord. But," he pointed to the larva, "This crawled out of its ear passage. I contained the larva, and then cut open the cranium." He picked up what looked like tan colored meat, smeared with some blood. It was crumbly and loose. "This is what I found. The larva had completely destroyed its brain! My guess is that these larvas find a host to feed on, like a parasite, and then devour brain matter. When the host dies, either from the larva reaching maturity, or when the brain matter has been entirely consumed, it leaves."

"How does the neurotoxin assist in this?" Khan asked.

"It likely makes the host more docile. In a more sentient creature, and this is just a hypothesis, My Lord, it may render them susceptible to suggestion."

"Mind control?" Marla asked.

"Yes," McPherson replied. His expression was one of child-like delight. "Isn't this just magnificent?"

"Scientifically, yes," agreed Dr. Hawkins, "But medically it's one of the worst things I've ever heard. How could anyone survive being infested by those?"

"They likely wouldn't," said McPherson. "Still, it wouldn't be bad if you studied them, too, Doctor. Then we can know if one has gotten in to one of our own."

"Study them thoroughly," Khan said. "I want as much knowledge on these creatures as possible. I don't want any more threats to our colony."

The men agreed. Khan crossed to Marla and touched her arm.

"Come with me. I'm meeting with our newly appointed masons. I want your opinion on the best designs for our settlement's houses." She quite eagerly agreed and followed.

* * *

It was back to business as usual, after that, really. The colony's progression moved with near rapid speed, though. As the days passed by, the sod bricks made seemed sturdy and strong, and eventually the first dwelling, a simple house with a single, open door, was constructed as a sort of 'test house', and they moved the cryo-tubes inside. Some of those said tubes had been given a new purpose, as well, serving as freezers for the meat that had been butchered from the bison. This ensured that anything killed and brought in for food would not go bad and that they would have preservation without salt.

There were many blessings that came from the bison hunt. Not only the hide and skins to use in making wrappings for weapons, but they were able to make new clothes, now. One of the first things made, aside from the promised sling and stone pouch that Khan created for Marla, were leggings and breeches for the men. Khan had even crafted a long coat to wear.

The first time Marla saw him in the dark tan material, his legs hugged by the breeches that replaced his Starfleet issue trousers, it had given her stomach butterflies. He looked like a real ancient warrior, now. His hair had even begun to grow out, and now was held back with a leather tie.

The best innovation, however, that came with the bison had been the creation of real, honest-to-God soap! With the tallow collected from the meat and the skins, the ashes from the fire, and their river-water, they were able to make crude, but perfectly usable, and very welcome soap. Marla relished in the first bath she had with that soap, and had scrubbed herself with it until her skin was raw and pink. True, the soap also meant cleaning of various other things, like their weapons and clothing and what all, but that little bit of vanity remaining in her had been so happy for the luxury.

In between all of these happenings, Ling made good on her promise. She showed Marla some martial-arts moves. Given their equal heights, taking down an attacker of similar build had been first. This resulted in the first week of training with Marla being flipped over Ling's shoulder and slammed to the ground several times.

"This is going easy on me?!" she exclaimed after getting back up from a particularly heavy slam.

"If I were being serious, your whole skeleton would be shattered," Ling told her. "Now get back up. We're doing it again."

It took a month, but Marla finally got the hang of it. The feeling of being able to lift Ling up with all of her might and slam the woman down on the ground had been exhilarating.

"Perfect!" Ling told her, jumping up, without a single sign that she'd been body-slammed apparent, save the dirt on her clothes. "Now that you've got that down, I'm going to have Joaquin join us, and we'll work on neutralizing a bigger opponent."

"Are you insane?!" Marla yelled. "I could never!"

"I can," Ling countered, her face smug.

"You're a supersoldier!"

"And I was taught by a man who was as small as you, and had achieved mastery in seven different types of martial arts," Ling told her. "My sensei, though completely inferior in genetics, was a superior fighter. Before I met Lord Khan and Joaquin, he was the most powerful man I had known."

Marla fidgeted a bit. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Ling said. "Lesson's done for today," she added. "Get food and wash up. You smell like a Comp Berry."

Marla looked over the leather vest that Ling now wore, and her phaser's new side-holster.

"And you smell like a bison." The Augment woman laughed, and just waved her off. It was still a shock, even after all this time, that she and Suzette Ling had become friends.

Marla retrieved a bar of soap and her bag from the shuttle, and then went to go get her supper. That would be first. She was absolutely starving, honestly. After getting a few slices of meat and a rationing of canned, re-hydrated peas, she sat to eat. The meat was slightly gamy, but she'd gotten used to the flavor, as she had gotten used to so many other things. The other Augments still didn't sit with her, but there had been no more altercations or assaults from them. Zuleika kept away from her as much as possible, and seemed to ignore her existence when they did pass by one another. That was better than being strangled and slapped around, she supposed.

While she ate, a mass came up and sat beside her. Golden-headed Viking Harluf looked at her and smiled.

"You are doing better now, without so much hostility, Miss Marla," he said to her.

"It's better than before," she admitted to him.

"You are getting stronger, too," Harluf noted. "I watch you with Suzette. She is a good teacher. And you are quick to learn."

"Thank you," she replied. "You're one of the few people who will talk to me, still."

"You are smart and very kind. But you are also stubborn," he told her. "I am a stubborn man, myself."

"I've never seen that."

"You and I do not disagree with one another," he said.

"That's not a bad thing with some friends."

He grinned wider. "I am glad that you think of me as a friend, Miss Marla." He looked around, and then leaned in close, whispering to her, "Lord Khan does not want us to be friends."

She paused, putting down the mouthful of peas she had scooped up. "Why? You're one of our best hunters."

He glanced around again. "I think that he thinks… that I may want to be more than your friend." Something in his words and in his eyes changed, then. Less innocent and jovial. Darker. More sinister. It made Marla lose her appetite.

"Um, well," Marla said, standing up, and setting her food down. "I don't think he has to worry about that. You and I are just friends, right?"

The face of the ally seemed to return, slipping on as easily as flipping a switch. "Of course," he answered.

"Good." Marla gestured to her abandoned plate. "You can have the rest of mine. I'm not so hungry, now." Then she left the camp's central hub, taking a less obvious route around toward the river.

When she reached the riverbank, she set down her bag and undressed. The conversation with Halruf unsettled her greatly. She had never thought much about the fact that he avoided talking to her whenever Khan was in camp, but now she had to examine it more closely. The first time she met Harluf, he had seemed like a sympathetic and kindly ally. Someone who just wanted to protect a person who was very clearly a target and easy prey to others.

Had he just been another predator using a different method of catching that prey?

The cold feeling that left in her made her pick up her bone knife, tie it securely to her upper arm, and take it in to the water with her soap bar. Better safe than sorry.

She lathered up, rubbing the rough rectangle over her skin and in her hair, and then tossed it back toward her things on the bank. She ran her hands up and scrubbed with her fingers and palms, getting a thick foam up in her hair, then moved the foam down over the rest of her body. She looked down at the rippling water. Nearly two months since the loss of the _Eden_, and their landing on the planet, she had changed, and the reminder of it threw her off. When she was able to see her reflection again, one sunny afternoon when she had been washing, she expected to see a woman with the traces of regained fat around her face and limbs, and chin-length wavy brown hair. The face she saw, though, had slimmed, becoming a clear heart-shape rather than a slight oval. Her hair had grown out, too, and now it brushed her shoulders. Days out in the sun had lightened it and made it spark with deep red in the light. She hadn't been 'auburn' since she was twelve. Her body had developed new muscles on it, in her upper arms and in her legs, especially.

The woman she had seen was not the Marla McGivers who had boarded the _U. S. S. Eden_. She doubted she'd see that woman ever again.

She dunked down to clean her hair out, and rose back up, clearing the remaining soap from her eyes. However, a splashing sound made her jump and turn. She drew out her knife and pointed it outward. She looked around, seeking out the originator of the noise. Was it Zuleika, wanting revenge after all this time? Was it Harluf? Her eyes sought any movement in the dark.

"Very good reflexes," purred a familiar voice. Khan seemed to emerge from the night itself, but really, he had stepped out from behind a small outcropping of rocks. He must have tossed something in to the water. "You have picked up so much from Suzette, my dear."

Relief flooded her as she realized she wasn't in danger. "Oh, Khan," she sighed. However, that didn't last, as she remembered that she was entirely naked. "Khan!" She crouched down, covering her chest with her arms. "What- why are you out here? Did you just want to scare me?"

"Oh, never, my dear, never," he said, moving closer to the riverbed. "I was merely curious about your progress."

"There are other ways," she told him, "And better times, to ask about that."

"Not in this case." He shrugged off his long leather coat, letting it drop to the ground. Then he pulled the fraying black shirt he still wore off, and dropped it, as well, revealing his perfectly cut pectorals. His upper body was practically gleaming in the light of their sister-planet above. His shoulders, arms, were magnificent and looked cut from marble. To call his abdomen a 'six-pack' would be an insult to the beauty of the dips and ripples in the muscle.

When his hands went to untie the upper knots on the sides of his britches, it became very obvious what he was doing, and Marla was able to make her brain start working and make her stop staring at his body.

"You- I," she tried to talk, but apparently perfection in flesh was hindering that. "You're stripping!"

"Obviously," he said. The peek of his hip-bone, the hard-cut lines of his long legs, the mere glimpse of the dark trail of hair going down from his lower abdomen to his...

Marla watched him step down in to the river. Movements slow, precise, and graceful.

Eventually her legs remembered that they could move. "Khan, if you need a little privacy, you can always ask," she said, turning away and going to the riverbank to gather her things. Before she could climb up, though, he lunged. His arms wound their way around her waist, and he pulled her back to him. She yelped and struggled at first, but then his large hands pressed against her hips. His head dropped down and he buried his nose in her wet hair. She froze.

Khan pressed his lips against shell of her ear, and he whispered to her. "Day and night I watch you, woman, and with every waking moment, every second that passes by, my hunger for you grows." Every syllable of his words made his lips move along her skin. His breath was hot against her. He held her flush against him, her back pressed to his chest, and the front of his thighs moving against the curve of her buttocks.

She licked her lips, the bottom one quivering. "I… Khan, I-"

He stalled her words with kisses to her neck. He trailed them down and along their curve in to her shoulder, while he bowed, guiding her to lean forward. Her hands shot out and plunged in to the cold river water. Tiny stones and sand oozed up from her fingers, but she didn't quite care when she felt his arousal, as hard as the rest of his glorious body, press against her thigh.

"From the moment I tasted your lips," he said against her shoulder, "and felt this soft body against me, I have craved more. Give me what I crave," he begged her.

"Oh, God," she gasped as his hips moved forward. She felt his length rub against the tender bundle of nerves between her legs, and it caused her to jerk her hips back. "Khan!"

"_Maid of _Eden_, ere we part,_" he breathed as he adjusted his hips, "_give, oh, give me back my heart._" He moved his right hand up along the center of her body, between the curves of her breasts and along her neck until he had her head cupped in his hand. "_Or since that has left my breast, keep it now and,_" then he slid himself deep inside of her, one long motion to fill her up, "_And take the rest!"  
_

His words came out in a low, loud groan, echoed by her own voice crying out. He stopped when he was sheathed inside of her, then he pulled his hips away, slowly. God, the ache she felt, it was unspeakable. He didn't retreat entirely, though, for as soon as she felt the bulk of him gone, he pushed his hips forward and impaled her again. His breathing was harsh in her ear as he moved so slowly. She knew he had to be holding back for her. _He doesn't want to hurt me_, she thought. She pressed her thighs and round ass against him, whimpering. She didn't want to hurt, but she wanted to feel him, too.

He took the hint, and began to pull and push, making a steady, building rhythm. With each increasing motion, their breaths increased and quickened. Marla felt her heart beginning to beat in time with his movements.

"_By that lip,_" Khan gasped, his head whipping back, while he increased his thrusts. "_By that lip I long to taste; by that zone-encircled waist; by all the token-flowers that tell what words can never speak so well!_" He shifted the angle of his hips and-

OH! Oh, yes! She screamed as he stroked at the little nerve-center.

"Khan!" Her voice came out in a high-pitched sound, then she keened, begged him, "Oh, God, Khan, please! Please, please, please, please!"

His answer was a sharp and quick thrust, followed by hard, fast piston motions that could only be described as wanton rutting. That voice that had been giving her sweet and ardent words came out in raw, unrefined grunts. His hands grabbed for her thighs, and he dragged his fingernails against her skin, while his lips found her neck and his teeth scraped against the tender surface. He took that spans of flesh and worried it; suckled it, growled around it. He was leaving his unquestionable marks on her body.

By now her fingers had gone numb in the cold water. Her legs and knees, she didn't think to the ache they would feel later. She was absorbed and lost entirely in this; this unfathomable, unending torrent of savage passion. Her wordless cries were a song in the night that spoke of the desire she felt this gorgeous and magnificent creation of science. And, oh, how she had desired him, from the minute she first saw him, even when she had feared him, through everything that they had been through together, it had persisted and grown. She had never hoped to fulfill it. But now he drove her full-on to the peak of it.

As they hurtled toward that peak together, she screamed. Whether it was his name, or whether there were no words at all, she didn't know, may never remember. What she remembered was the bellow he made when he cried out, following her over the edge.

"_**MARLA!**_"

* * *

AN: Now… let it be known that I do not write erotic literature. I hope what I have written will suffice. Hope you like the gratuitous Naked-Batch and quotes from Byron.

Now, to take a moment to interrupt, I want to direct you folks to the page of a fellow writer. Her name is Tekawolf and she does many good writings. In fact, I currently have 3 collaborations going on her page. We work together to bring madness to various worlds. If you want to read them (especially our _Sherlock_ centric stories) go to me profile and clickie the link next to her name!


	15. Chapter 15

AN: WOW! Thanks for the compliments folks. Well, since it was requested so much, I'll begin this chapter from Khan's perspective. And yes, more sexy-times ahead.

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

He was watching her.

He was _always_ watching her.

After the night of Marla's altercation with Zuleika, Khan rarely let the petite woman venture far from his sight. And when he could not watch her himself, he had others do it for him. Wherever she went, whatever she did, he had someone tell him every detail. His best informants on her were Liam, who seemed to find in her a capable assistant of sorts and another spring-board for ideas, and Suzette, who had been the one who kept him informed during the woman's confinement.

Naturally he watched Marla's training, too. True, she was not a natural fighter. She ran on the instinct of last-resort, but with each passing day, he saw Marla improve in her movements, her stance, and how she used her height and her swiftness to her advantage. The pleasure it gave him to watch as her body was rewritten from soft and disused tissue in to clear muscle was insurmountable. She was becoming an adept little warrior, a perfect companion to her intelligence.

Along with that change in her body's composition, he noted, other changes had occurred. Her hair, with days in the sun, reverted to a shade that was reminiscent of dark red flames or glistening rubies, while growing out in to soft waves. He found himself yearning to run his fingers in those red waves. Desiring to grasp handfuls of it in his hands. He saw how her waist thinned out, making her already willowy and slight frame lighter. And yet, she was still quite the opposite of the Augment women.

He had to bide his time. Silently he let his need for her simmer in his blood, keeping himself close enough to stay in her presence and resettle their dynamic, but distant enough that he did not lose his self-control too soon. He might have waited another month, really, if nothing had risen to jeopardize his plan.

Harluf Ericsson ultimately made him force his hand.

Khan had kept Marla well away from Harluf. As much as he could. But even with sending the Norwegian man in to countless hunting and scouting trips, and having tasks heaped upon him, Ericsson still managed to wriggle his way in to Marla's good graces. When he saw him, that evening, sitting next to her, whispering in her ear, too close for comfort, Khan could not control the boiling anger. He would not let Ericsson have her. He would not let _anyone _take her. He had to move now.

Had to take.

Had to claim!

So he followed her out to the river.

He knew her weaknesses. He wasn't blind, and most certainly not an idiot. The first step was to disarm her with his physical appearance. He knew she appraised him when he was clothed. How much more would she when he had nothing to cover up the perfection? His physique had been a long-time weapon and a tool when he had played as lover in the past, or needed to use seduction to gain what he wanted from his enemies, and it was no different now. Thus he put his superior body on full display for her. Let her have her fill.

Timid little thing, even with all the liberties she had been given, she attempted to flee, but he would not let her. Not tonight. Not this time. No excuses and no modesty. He pulled her back and used her other weakness against her. Words.

His voice was once commended as something quite captivating to hear. When he issued orders, none could ignore him. A princely command was hearkened to swiftly. Women swooned when he spoke romantic prose. Marla, with her love of old poetry was no match for his voice and the words of Lord Byron together.

When the woman had at last yielded to him, Khan let himself indulge in her flesh.

Oh, how soft she was! Soft, hot, pliant, and so very wet when he took her in the river; it was glorious. And she was his.

She had begged him for it, submitted to it, and now she bore his mark on her tender and vulnerable skin. She knelt in the riverbed beneath him, hands deep in the sediment, panting and dripping with water and sweat. His bite-

_There it was!_

-A large, glistening red welt on her neck. Undeniable, unquestionable proof that she had been claimed.

_Mine_.

He pulled himself from her. His member, softening between his thighs, washed clean in the water. He stood up and climbed on to the embankment, then picked up his clothing. He looked back at the woman, and took in her appearance. But for the bite and the bright flush of her cheeks and neck, there was no evidence of their coitus.

He would remedy that.

"Wait five minutes. Then dress, and return to camp. I'll be waiting." He knew she would obey. He knew she would come to him.

He dressed quickly and made his way straight to their shuttle. Inside the shared dwelling, he found Joaquin and Suzette. The larger Augment man was sharpening a long knife made from rock and bone, while the female was taking inventory of small darts that she had recently acquired. Tiny white things she dipped in toxic flower oils.

"Joaquin, I need you to take the watch on the Eastern border, tonight," he ordered. The larger male stood up and he already went to heed his Lord's word. Khan turned to Suzette, "Stand guard outside. I wish to take counsel with Marla. Don't let anyone enter. I want no interruptions."

"Yes, My Lord," the Augment woman replied before she too vacated.

He waited. Pacing in what little room was provided in the cabin of the escape shuttle, he waited. He brought his hands up, steepled together, under his nose, against his lips. Her scent was still on his hands. He paused and breathed in deep. Shut his eyes.

The door to the shuttle opened, and he heard her light tread as she entered.

Slowly, he turned and raked his eyes over her. Marla's cheeks still retained the bright flush of color. Her hair was already drying in to the soft and full waves he found so appealing. She had made a vain attempt to cover his bite with the strap of her bag and the fabric of her sari.

That would not do.

He stepped toward her. He took her bag from her and tossed it away. She didn't protest or stop him, though she did look confused. No matter. Without preamble or word his arms went around her slim waist again and he pressed his lips against hers and tasted. Tasted those soft lips and her tongue; an exotic flavor. He sampled more of her by moving his mouth down her chin to her neck. Flicked his tongue and scraped his teeth against her pulse-

_Her blood races for me!_

-and he breathed in deeply her pure, clean, gentle scent.

"Khan," she sighed.

_Yes, say my name- say it and know who masters you._

"Khan, wait- wait, stop," she pulled away from him.

What?

Stop?

Why?

Why would she ask that? She hadn't said to stop before. Before, at the river, she had consented; submitted, surrendered, let herself be overcome. Why would she stop now?! She was his, she belonged to him!

_Mine!_

_Wait_. His rational mind stopped the bestial side of his nature, but only just. He reassessed the moment. Took deep breaths to steady his mind.

"Why?" he said, his voice low and raw with his want for her. "I thought you wanted more- I want more, Marla," he told her. He reached out his hands to draw her back again.

She put her on hands up, pushed his away.

"I know," her voice was weak. Quiet. Afraid. Why was she afraid? "I just… I don't understand. Why do you want this? Why me?"

Oh, there was the disadvantage to having more intelligence and less savagery. The doubt. Doubt, and fear, worry, second guesses and far too much thinking. If she thought she might step away- _if_ she stepped away, she may no longer trust him. He wouldn't be able to have either her mind or her body, anymore. He couldn't allow that!

"What more needs to be said, Marla?" he asked her. He tried another attempt to touch her by taking her hands in to his own. She didn't pull away.

"You've ignited a fire in my veins that cannot be extinguished." He pulled her, slowly, back toward him, and he dipped his head down. He put his against her ear, smelling her hair and the skin behind the shell.

He licked the source of that scent.

"I just," she whimpered. He could feel her fighting the instinct.

_Enough of this!  
_

"If you say no," the sound he emitted was not done consciously, but the growl was deep and came out in a heated rumble, "I will stop, and I will not touch you again." He pulled back to look her in the eye- those amber colored things, bright and willful- while he held her head, palms against her temples.

_Gentle touch, here_, he reminded himself. He could crush her skull with his hands, but he never would. Not to her. He needed this brain; needed this woman.

"But if you say yes," he told her. "I will never stop. I will need you more, every moment, and I will seek to satisfy my appetite for you."

He could see the instant that her reservations and doubt left her. With no more opposition, he recaptured her lips, and pulled her close until they were pressed together. Until he felt the heat from within her body.

Clothes were shed, as fast as they could manage. In the lighted cabin, he let his eyes feast on her naked form. The gentle swell of her breasts, the curve of her hips, the dip of her belly just in the center. He kissed every inch her skin, the color of golden honey stirred in to fresh cream. Her thighs, covered in his scratches, he worshiped her with his tongue. He found the cleft between her legs and he buried his mouth in the wetness, tasting the new delicacy she offered him.

Eventually she moaned, "Khan! Please, I need… God, just please."

He rose and took hold of her thighs. Raised them and split them open, then slid his right arm under her left knee. He paused to look at her.

Debauched. That was the only word that fit her. She was entirely and completely unbound, now. Her ruby-red hair flared around her head, her cheeks the color of ripe pomegranates, her eyes glazed over in her arousal. All for him.

_Mine._

He raised his hips, found her heated center, and then slid in until they were fitted together. Like a key entering its lock, a fit that was perfect and natural. He dropped his head down and he pressed his mouth and nose to her throbbing pulse. He was slow only to start, but she was still open and ready from their earlier coupling. He gave in to instinctual urge, and started more vigorous thrusts.

Her voice keened from his movements. Her throat pulled taught as her head dipped back. He licked at the vein, then moved his lips to the flesh above it and bit. Drew the salty-sweat dampened skin in to his mouth and suckled. Let her try and hide _this_ mark. Let her dare to deny that he _owned_ her.

Marla writhed beneath him. Though one of her legs dangled over his arm, she managed to lift the other, wrapping it around his waist. She moved her hips, meeting his thrusts. She chanted his name like a supplication.

_Yes, my little acolyte, worship me! I am all you will ever need. You are mine._

"Khan!"

_Mine._

"Khan!"

_Mine._

"Khan!"

_**Mine!**_

He let his mind entirely shut down and followed the pull that led his body to its release. Hot, as bright and blinding as the sun, and consuming him from within. Like a panther set free at last, back in to the wild, he roared with victorious glory. And she joined him, shortly after.

In the aftermath, he lay with her tiny form curled against him. She had placed her hand on his chest, palm directly over his beating heart. He held her in his arms, and watched while she slept. He was spent and satisfied.

_For now_, he thought.

He smiled, and let himself give in to rest, taking a long, deep breath. The air around them, it was almost as good as the scent of blood and the battlefield. This was the best kind of sleep; surrounded by the smell of sweat and sex.

* * *

AN: I think I'll just end things right here for today. I hope you all enjoyed this little foray in to our 'Leading Man's' brain. Next chapter, we get to see the repercussions.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Well, time to see what comes of mixing manipulation with pleasure, hm?

* * *

She awoke to a warring sensation of hot and cold. She felt places in her body that were utterly warm (her back, her right arm, something heavy and large was clasped between her legs), and felt a gentle draft everywhere else. Opening her eyes, the first things she saw were the smooth lines of a pale collarbone and hard pectorals.

Last night hadn't been a dream, then.

She was still lying in his arms. She was lying in Khan Noonien Singh's arms –

The Best of the Bloody Tyrants! Lord of New Chandigarh, condemned for war crimes and one of the most fierce and deadly warriors known to history!

- with his leg between hers, and…

"Oh God." Her voice was the barest ghost of a whisper. She couldn't wake him up. There was no way. She didn't know what she'd say to him after…well, after a night like that! This was worse than the kiss. This was ten times worse.

_Even though it'd also been exponentially better._

She couldn't think about it right now. Not while she smelled like old emissions, sweat, and adrenaline. She carefully extracted her right leg out from under his thick thigh and calf, and then she moved back along the floor until she felt the bottom of the seat. Pulled herself up. Winced from the soreness in her hips. Then she looked around for her clothes, picking them up as silently as possible, while trying not to whimper in pain from the ache in her pelvic region.

She ran her hand through her hair after she had her panties pulled on and her bra hooked and adjusted properly. God, what was she going to do? She covered her mouth with both of her hands, and stifled a moan. Yes, she'd always admired-

_Hell, lusted. Be honest with yourself._

- she'd lusted after Khan, even when he'd been frozen cold in stasis. Even when he hated her and had treated her like a prisoner. She had hoped at the least for a little respect, and she had been given that. She knew, up until last month, that he had been developing some affection for her, but she never knew which way that might go. Friendship and camaraderie or more? She hadn't had any idea until the evening he kissed her. In fact, she was sure he had decided it was better not to engage in flirtation, as his affectionate touches and stolen glances had decreased in their frequency (though not his kindness and his respect).

Now it was clear that that was _not_ the case at all.

But then, what was this? He had been so passionate and insistent. And even though she was sore, it had still been the absolute best sex in her life.

She wasn't a virgin. Far from it. But she didn't go around sleeping with anyone who gave her a few words of poetry or a nice smile, or any of that. Khan was… He just wasn't anything at that should exist, really, and yet he did. And last night he had been the most gorgeous thing that she had ever seen. She glanced down at him, naked on the floor.

He was _still_ the most gorgeous thing she'd ever seen.

She looked around now for her top and her sari. As she tip-toed around him, a hand shot out; gripped her by the ankle. She yelped, and looked down. That hand started to slide its fingers up her calf. Khan looked up at her, his eyes half-lidded, and his plump mouth was curled up. He looked like a cat that had gotten some very fatty and luscious cream.

He sounded like one, too, when he spoke. "Where are you going?"

She tried to wet her throat and it took several attempts. "I was… It's morning, and there's…there's quite a lot to do."

"It can wait," he decreed.

"You don't know what I was supposed to do today," she argues. "And- and you have obligations. You need to run the colony."

"It. Can. Wait," he repeated, enunciating each word and making that mouth of his hug every word. He raised himself up on his other arm, and moved the hand on her leg higher, until he had his hand curling up the back of her thigh. From the angle she had, she could see along his back, over the curve of his extraordinary, firm gluteus, and down his legs. Was he posing on purpose or was this just a nice accident?

In either case, it was working on her. She'd stopped trying to get out of his reach. She watched him as he crawled up to his knees. He was kneeling before her, with both hands, now, rubbing up and down along her thighs, over her cheeks, along the small of her back, and down again.

"Lie with me," he said as he lifted his head and began kissing at her stomach.

Marla forced herself to close her eyes, and backed away. "Wa- Wait! Just," she moved around, walking over discarded clothing and sat down on one of the seats. "Just wait! I need to talk to you about this, Khan."

He let out a frustrated groan, rumbling right out of his muscled chest, and he dropped backward, then lounged himself along the floor, facing her, with his back against the opposite wall's seats, arms up on the cushions.

Did he have to keep making himself look like the embodiment of sin itself?

She couldn't take it. She covered her eyes. "Stop that."

He smirked. "Stop what?" he sounded amused.

"Stop… that!" she said in exasperation. "Stop looking like pornography incarnate!"

He chuckled. Shit, did he know what that sound did to her? Did he really have no idea that it made her want to melt?

"How can I help how I look?" he asked her. "Especially when you are sitting there, in your lingerie, and still have my scent clinging to you?"

Marla was blushing so much she could feel it on her cheeks and creeping down her neck.

"Listen, it's just too sudden," she explained to him. "I don't understand why, after weeks- _months_- of flirting and just being… colleagues, or whatever we were, you suddenly decide you'd like to have a fuck in the river, and another one _here_, where we share space with Mr. Weiss and Suzette."

In a single, fluid, graceful motion, he pushed away from the opposite rows of seats and he was kneeling in front of her again. This time, though, his arms lay parallel to her thighs while his chest pressed against her knees and shins, essentially pinning her in place.

"How could I not? With your body glistening under the starlight while you bathed in the river? As lovely and tempting as Bathsheba." He slid one arm around her waist while the other guided her legs open (and she found herself complying, really) to nestle himself closer.

She grabbed him by both of his shoulders. "Why, though! I need to know _why_! You could have your pick of anyone out of all of your people. Why me?"

She held on to his gaze, and didn't look away, this time. When he answered, he let go of her waist to take hold of her hand.  
"The reason, my dear Marla, is because you are soft," Khan rubbed his thumb along her palm. "Lovely, and gentle. Yet, you have the capacity for ferocity, and passion. You have an intelligent mind, and are loyal beyond words, not out of necessity or rank, but out of genuine affection. That is rare, and it is why I must have you." He pulled her hand to his lips and he kissed at her palm, then up to her pulse line.

She shook her head. "It's just… It's too good to be true, honestly."

He put her hand to his cheek, making her open her fingers to lay them along his face.

"Do you trust me, Marla?" he asked her quietly.

"With my life," she answered him. She did. Entirely.

"Then trust me with your heart," he said as he reached his hands for her waist to pull her to the edge of the seat. "Trust me. Open your heart," he slid his hands over her hips, sliding them over her thighs. "Open your heart."

"Yes," she sighed. He kissed at her stomach again, his tongue flicking out to lick at the dip of her navel. She whimpered, and then moaned. Oh, God, this felt right! It was so odd, and bizarre, but it felt completely right.

As his hands had moved to hook his thumbs in to the waistband of her panties, his mouth following down to kiss each bit of exposed skin, the door to the shuttle opened. Suzette ran in. The sudden intrusion of the Augment woman made Marla scream, hands going up to cover her chest, while Khan's head shot up, and he glared at his guard.

"I hope you have an adequate explanation for interrupting me, Suzette," Khan snarled. How did he manage to look menacing while completely nude?

"It's Joaquin, My Lord!" Suzette said, quickly. "Something's happening! He looks like he's having a seizure!" Ever since the incident in the jungle, when they faced the saber-tooth tiger, Marla had not seen fear on the Augment woman's face. Clearly she was still capable of it, for the expression on her face could only be fear and panic.

Khan was on his feet in seconds. He grabbed his coat. "Lead!" he told her. Marla had only time to pick up her now visible sari and throw it on before she ran after them both.

They found Joaquin on the ground, surrounded by others. Doctor Hawkins was already there, and several men were trying to hold the large superman down.

"What happened?" demanded Khan as he ran up.

"Don't know," said one of the other men. "On minute he was fine, the next he was holding his head and screaming!" Joaquin's arms jerked and tried to yank them, tried to throw off the men holding him down. Khan threw himself in and added his weight by crouching on Joaquin's chest.

"Don't let him swallow his tongue!" demanded Gideon.

Suddenly Joaquin let out a loud, howling scream of pain, and then he went still. No more fighting. No more thrashing.

"Joaquin?" Khan asked. He grabbed the other man's large head in his hands. "Joaquin! Wake up!"

"God, no," Suzette said. She ran up next to the prone male, and shrieked, "JOAQUIN! Wake up, you big idiot, WAKE UP! Don't you leave me, you bastard, DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"Shit," Gideon lunged at Khan and shoved Suzette away. He pulled their leader off the man on the ground. "Get away! There's an Eel crawlin' out of him!"

"What?" Khan pushed the doctor aside and knelt to look. Marla stepped closer as well. She saw it, too. The black larva wriggling out of his ear, drawing with it a small trickle of blood.

"No," Khan breathed. He yelled to the onlookers, "BACK! Everyone! NOW!" He waited for the creature to crawl on to the ground and crushed it beneath his foot.

Marla came close, now, and she put her hand on Khan's back. "I'm sorry…" On the ground, Suzette had returned to Joaquin's side and held his head in her lap. She was hugging him, and wailing. Marla knelt beside her, then, and put an arm around the woman who had become her friend. She said the same thing to her, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Gideon knelt at Joaquin's right, and he took out his tricorder. "Let's make sure there aren't any more on him." As he ran it over, blinked. Reached a hand out and placed it under his nose. Then he touched Joaquin's neck, at his pulse.

"My God, he's alive," Gideon announced. "Help me get him up! He's alive!" Khan was the first to assist the doctor in picking up the massive Augment. Suzette joined in to help drag him to the camp's hospital, Marla close behind.

As she trailed behind them, she heard someone ask, "Why was our Lord naked?"

* * *

They had to wait several hours while Joaquin was unconscious. By then Khan and Marla had dressed properly, and waited with Suzette, Doctor Hawkins, and Liam McPherson.

"Why didn't the Eel devour his brain?" Khan mused.

"We won't know till he wakes up," Liam said. "I'm as curious to know as you are. This goes against my original observations, and I need to know what he did- if anything- to keep it from destroying his brain matter."

"What's more," Gideon added, "It didn't manage to cause any internal hemorraging. From the scans I can make, it seems the blood came from that thing crawling in and out of his ear."

Suzette stayed silent the whole time. Sitting, chewing on the cuticle of her left thumb, and glancing back and forth over Joaquin. Marla felt badly for her. She also felt rather terrible for never noticing how Suzette felt for him. But she supposed it made a great deal of sense that two of the strongest members of the crew, and two people who had served together for so long, would fall in love.

When Joaquin finally woke up, Gideon ran another quick scan of him, checked his pulse and other reflexes. All while Liam jumped over to ask questions.

"What did it feel like? The Eel in your brain?"

"It hurt," was Joaquin's answer.

"Yes, of course, but how did it make you feel?" Liam pushed.

"Wanted to sleep," Joaquin answered. "Go numb."

"Ah, but why didn't you?" Liam asked, rubbing his palms together, eager for the answer.

"Couldn't." Joaquin told him. "I was on watch. I couldn't leave it."

"But…But that's a powerful neurotoxin," Liam said. "What's more, why didn't it attack your brain when you fought back?"

"Don't know," Joaquin said. "Couldn't leave my post. Didn't want to go down. Fought it."

Khan chuckled. "Only you would fight a deadly parasite with sheer force of will and stubbornness, my old friend."

Joaquin smiled up at their leader, and Liam's face lit up.

"OH! Of course!" Liam declared. "That's it! Not necessarily will, but the chemicals and synapsis in the brain! Our brain makes chemicals all the time! Some must obviously draw the Eels to them, but others, then repel! The chemicals made when one is fighting off a predator must repel it! Others like fear, such as the bird's initial fear, must draw it in!"

"So then if we follow the urge to fight," said Gideon, "then it'll make the Eel leave?"

"Yes, but only if strong enough. Sometimes fear overpowers, even when you're fighting off a threat. Fight versus flight- It's all so interesting! If only I could study it in more detail! Run tests, and possibly experiments." Liam looked absolutely enthralled with the idea.

"This is enough," Khan said. "If we remember not to give in to fear and use our own superior genetics and strength against it, then the Eels won't be a danger to us." He patted Joaquin's shoulder. "Rest, old friend. You deserve it. This may have been your greatest battle."

Joaquin nodded his head humbly to Khan. Suzette went over to Joaquin, and slapped him hard on his shoulder.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again you stupid, overgrown mammoth!" she seethed. Joaquin only laughed, drew her over with one muscled arm, and pulled her in tight.

Marla took that as a cue to leave. She stepped outside, and was joined by Khan not very long after.

"That was a miracle," she said to him. "I thought he had really died."

"Any threat that he encounters, Joaquin fights with every ounce of strength that he possesses." Khan smirked. "He and Suzette will have very strong and capable children."

Marla blushed, and asked, "You noticed that?"

"I had been hoping for it," he told her. "If this settlement is to flourish and become a powerful civilization, then we must all create only the strongest and most intelligent children." He smirked as they walked along. "Superior and perfect offspring."

She found herself smiling, too. The thought of children, growing up and thriving on this planet, made her hopeful. She looked up at Khan, and imagined him with countless sons and daughters. Boys with his prominent cheeks. Girls with his bright, blue-ice eyes.

_And who will be bearing these children?_

The voice of doubt returned to her.

Her smile faulted and she said, "You… You'll have very strong and intelligent children, then. They'll be the best of them all."

"Of course they will," he murmured. "I'll make sure of that."

She bit on her bottom lip, but kept herself from asking him. Would she be the one doing that? Or was she something to occupy his time? She didn't want to know the answer.

Instead, she said, "Unless you have another task for me, Sir, I need to check on the test house and make sure that the growing humidity's not caused its structure to become compromised. Then I thought I'd-"

"You may do that, but when you are done, return to our shuttle," he ordered. His eyes looked her over, slowly. "I believe we were in the middle of something important this morning." He turned aside, striding away.

Well, it seemed he was right about the 'fire in his veins' being hard to 'extinguish'.

She swallowed, and then headed for the sod-house they had made. She checked the outer walls, enforced with stone at the bottom, the roof thatched and tightly woven together. It made for a simple, but efficient dwelling. She made sure that there wasn't any damage, chipping, or oozing from the bricks that made up the outer shell, then moved inside, pushing aside the bison-leather covering that served for a door.

As she checked on the inner walls, making sure everything still held, the hide-leather moved again.

"It is a relief that Joaquin did not die, Miss Marla," Harluf's voice said behind her. She turned around, and saw the blonde Norseman leaning against the frame of the door.

"Yes, a big relief," Marla agreed. Her unease about the man hadn't left since last night. She still felt lingering suspicion about him. She put her tricorder away in her bag, and then crossed to the door.

Harluf's arm shot across the frame, making her stop.

"Our Lord was worried, as well," Harluf said. He leaned in closer to her. "So much that he forgot most of his clothing… I wonder why he would leave such things behind?"

Marla felt a wave of genuine fear. "I think Lord Khan's business is his own, and that you shouldn't question it."

He just smiled at her. "You were also… a little underdressed."

She tried to duck under his arm, but he grabbed one of hers and pulled her back in to the interior of the house. She screamed.

"Let go of me!"

He clapped his hand over her mouth. "You are pretty and intelligent, Miss Marla. It is a pity he got to you first. We could have been very, _very_ good friends." Harluf let her go, pushing her away from him as if she burned his skin, and stayed right in his place.

Marla didn't look back as she took off out of the sod-house. Though it wasn't far before she ran right in to Khan, smacking against him as he appeared in her path.

"Marla?" he held her by the shoulders with both of his hands. "I heard you scream. What happened?"

"N-nothing," she lied. Oh a terrible lie, too. But she still said, "I'm fine."

His eyes squinted and he said, "Go back to the shuttle now. I will be with you shortly."

She nodded, and hurried back to their pod. When she was inside, she took a few minutes to think. Ran her hands through her hair, and let herself have a quiet moment to calm down from the panic. It didn't really work, of course.

It made her feel nauseous. To think that all this time, Harluf had acted as her friend and ally against everyone else in the camp who had wanted to hurt or kill her, when he what he really wanted… She shook her head, and rubbed at her temples.

Sometimes, she forgot the other ways that the people here could be savage.

The door opened, and Khan swept in. She looked up and watched his movements as he sat down beside her.

"What happened?" he asked her. "Tell me the truth, Marla."

She swallowed, and then finally said, "I was in the test-house, and Harluf came in… He… I think he's been trying to…" she couldn't even speak it.

"I know," Khan said. "I tried to keep him away from you, but you seemed to enjoy his company. I had hoped he would forget his interest and leave you alone. I was wrong."

She felt her lip quivering. "I really thought he was a friend. I have so few here, Khan. Still..."

He reached his right hand up and pet at her hair.

"Hush," he whispered to her. "Forget about him, my dear. You don't need him. Or others like him. What they think does not matter." He put his arms gently (oh, so very, very gently) around her, and he pulled her over to him. He lifted her easily by the waist to sit her on his strong thighs.

"You have me," he said. "And I will keep you safe from men like him. And from jealous and petty women. You are mine, Marla," he said to her. His left hand ran up from her waist, following the line of her back. His right cupped her bottom. He leaned in while pulling her close, and rested his head between her breasts. "Mine and only mine."

She sighed, and let herself relax. Yes. She felt safest in his arms. Hadn't she always been safe with him? Even when they had first met, and he had been wary of her, he had always kept her safe from harm. Marla's arms went around his wide shoulders, fingers going up to stroke the short tail of hair tied behind his head.

His kisses made her forget about the stresses, betrayals, and worries that waited outside the shuttle's door.

* * *

AN: Well, seems that soon the grapevine will be abuzz! If it isn't already… Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Thanks for being so patient folks! I'm posting this EARLY because of all your wonderful patience. Not to say I won't go back and adjust anything missed, of course. And I'm still going over the last chapters with my Beta, Darkrocker. Here's the newest chapter in the story. Hope you all like it! ^.^ Poetry belongs to Byron, and the _Star Trek _franchise belongs to Roddenberry, and now J.J. Abrams and their respective companies.

* * *

Each day, they made themselves ready for the rains. The sonar and tracking programs on the shuttles helped, but they weren't entirely accurate. They had an error margin that ranged from three hours to two days. Still, every second counted. They had at the least two more months before the clouds rolled in, and they needed every single second.

Shelter would come from the shuttles, should flood waters rise higher than expected. Liam estimated something between three feet beyond the river's usual bounds and the very edge of camp (their cautious decision to settle on higher ground paying off already). Still, to be safe, they started using what tools they had made for themselves to begin digging trenches around the camp to help catch the rising waters, and separated out emergency rations for each shuttle, and their occupants, were prepared.

The increased likelihood of fish to be caught for sustenance was anticipated- they had caught a few fish from the river, already, but they were hoping that a massive amount would be carried in by the elevated waters. Therefore, not only did they make more fishing spears, but lines and even nets from the bison-hair.

Seeing the progress that the settlement made each day gave Marla an immense feeling of pride. Even more so when she thought about how her own knowledge had a hand in its success so far. She almost wished that everyone back home- especially some of the men she had worked under before- could see how useful a historian could be.

So few ships went on anything but simple observation missions now that having a historian for anything other than to help catalogue the planet's current progress 'from a third-party perspective' was a bit superfluous. Hell, the only reasons she was actually on the _Eden_ were because of Archie's request that she come along, and the fact that they were carrying cryo-tubes manufactured in the 20th century. Without an expert on the early technology, or a trained doctor, on board to know how they worked, then any malfunction or tampering with the tubes could result in the person inside going in to cardiac arrest. Thankfully, that never happened.

When Marla had such thoughts, though, about the _Eden_, and her old job, it also made her think about the Earth. Her uncle had died a few years ago, so her aunt was the only relative she had, now. She wondered if she had been notified of the ship's destruction (if the transmission even made anywhere). She wondered if her friends and the colleagues she had had at Star Fleet actually mourned her. Had they declared her dead? Did they hold a funeral? Not just for her but the whole crew? It could be called morbid to think of your own funeral, but it made her sad to think that her 'death' made the people who had been so dear to her once feel grief. Especially when she wasn't really dead.

In the beginning when there had been so much to do and work on for the sake of the colony, she hadn't had as much time to think about Earth and her friends and family there. She was getting more and more time, these days, really, as the people around her adapted quickly. Especially when Khan started keeping her closer to his side.

That was another thing, which occurred to her one day. She used to have so much of a life- on Earth she had her own flat, a car, a little library that included _real_ books- made of paper with leather bindings too- and so many other things. Now her life seemed to revolve either around the settlement or Khan.

_Of course I have to think of the settlement,_ she thought. _This is my home now._

_But why does Khan take up so much of your life?_ Her doubt seemed to like to pick at that vein of thought often.

_Because without him I'd likely die._ It sounded like a dramatic exaggeration, but if it weren't for Khan, the colonists might have attacked her more often, before, or even continued their hostile affronts. If it weren't for him, the few friends she had gained might not have even made contact with her (he had introduced her to Gideon and Liam, after all). Because of his influence and direction, and because he saw the value in her knowledge, she had a purpose here. He gave her a reason to want to stay here. He had given her that purpose.

_Isn't that a bit odd? Too excessive?_

She would have agreed with her doubt, once. But now, especially when he had his hands and his lips on her a night, touches made boldly in privacy or stolen as quietly as possible when Joaquin and Suzette weren't at the night-watch and slept nearby, well… It made it easier to let thoughts like that go silent.

One night, she lay curled up beside him, thinking about some of these things. About Earth, and the life she no longer had there. Things she did miss, now and then.

"You look troubled," Khan said, whispering softly, his mouth near the crown of her head. She pulled back, and looked up at him.

"Sorry, I was… I was thinking about home- I mean, Earth," she explained.

"Why?" he asked.

"Well," she said, "Because it _was_ my home. My aunt is still there. I had friends, there. Sometimes I worry about them. Think about the things I used to do there, with them. Like drinks with the girls, or weekends with my aunt; things like that. It was a good life, then. I had a very good life."

"You are unsatisfied with this?" he asked her. That look of hurt that he didn't let anyone else see (that made her chest hurt when it was there in his beautiful face) came across his features. "You are unhappy with me?"

"Oh, no," she assured him. She pet at his high-cut cheek. Slowly, she ran her hand down over his smooth chest. "God no, you make life here wonderful. It's just… I'm not here with anyone I knew before. For you, everyone was someone you worked with, or who was close to you. They're your crew."

He cupped her jaw in one of his large, long fingered hands. "And you are a part of my crew now, Marla," he said to her. "Without your help, it would have taken us much longer to acclimate to this planet. Without you, we would never have even gotten off of your ship. You are the reason any of us are alive, my dear," he said to her as he pressed his mouth against her forehead; a soft, soothing kiss. "Would you deny us life?"

She said, "No," as she pressed herself close to him. "Never. Your people deserve the chance to live."

"Of course," he whispered against her skin. He moved his mouth down, brushing his lips against hers. "And you would not deny me this?" he asked as his hand left her cheek and trailed over her breast. "Or this?" His fingers traced the outline of her hip, down along the inside of her thigh, and between her legs.

She gasped from his touch, and whimpered, "N-no. No I wouldn't."

"Then don't think about Earth," he whispered before he gave her mouth a quick kiss. "It is far behind you, now." He kissed her again. "_This_ is your home." His fingers moved, stroked, flicked. "Here, with me, you are home."

She couldn't answer him verbally. She just nodded, slid her arms around his neck and kissed him as hard as she could. Of course he was right. He often was. Earth, no matter how much she missed it, and no matter who was left behind, was no longer her home. It wouldn't be home ever again. She had a home _here_, and that would have to be enough.

He was quite a persuasive man, really. Even without sex he had been capable of suggesting things to her that simply made sense.

Two days ago she had considered trying to cut her hair. Khan told her not to.

'_It was quite uncomplimentary, before. I prefer it longer. Loose. Natural. Soft. Much more attractive.'_

When he had been explaining this, he had run his fingers through her hair, toying with her curls. It had made her shiver.

_'Soft. Natural. Please, remember, my dear.'  
_

She hadn't bothered to even consider cutting her hair since then. She wouldn't be bothering to think about Earth, either. Not for a while, at least.

* * *

Several nights later, the settlement suffered a tragedy. Two of their guards had been taken in the dark. The bloodied prints left behind left no doubt in their minds at what had taken them.

"The tigers," Khan said, kneeling by the prints. The sun hadn't risen, but the sky was silver-bright in the early morning hours. Enough light to see and piece together the scene.

"It came in the night," Khan continued, thinking aloud, "Likely hunting the bison, its natural prey, when it came upon our settlement." He turned to one of the remaining guards. "Tell me again, what did you see?"

"Lutjen was standing just there," the man said. Eric Lutjen had been one of the Augments assigned to stand with this man (Javier Rodriguez, Marla tried to recall), and a woman called Gorinksy.

"That thing… it reminded me of a lion, Sir, and it was so fast! It just snatched Lutjen right out of sight, and I heard him screaming. Then Gorinksy ran for him and she was screaming, too. I tried to follow but I…" He shook his head. "It was gone."

"It took its kill and left." His anger was rising. Marla could see it. See it steadily rising in his eyes, to that hot blue-fire that she had seen once before.

Khan turned to Joaquin, fully recovered now from the Eel attack on him weeks ago, and he said, "Gather our strongest. We will hunt the tigers and avenge the lives taken." He then went toward the shuttle. Marla followed him.

"Are you going to use the tracking system?" she asked him.

"Yes," he said. Their original shuttle had been so damaged, she was told later, that he hadn't been able to use the tracking system to scan for life-forms. Now that they had working computer systems, they could. The only limitation was when they tried to scan the mountains. When they were looking for any of the indigenous animals there, they got only massive interference. Liam had supposed that was due to some unknown mineral deposit scrambling up the signal.

Khan sat at the console to their shuttle, now, and he keyed in the approximate mass, and the exact animal they were seeking.

"What are you going to do, then?" She leaned in close and watched the man's fingers fly over the console's buttons.

"Find them. All that I can. And I will kill them."

"What!" she exclaimed. "Khan, you're powerful, but you can't possibly-"

"If even _one_ of these tigers lives, they will simply continue to hunt and kill my people. I will not allow that," he said to her. "Not one more life shall be taken. I refuse to lose any more of my family." His voice tightened. She put her hand on his shoulder. He loved his crew so much. She couldn't help but feel badly for him.

The computer's systems alerted them. It lit up, showing several life forms matching the criteria in the jungle. They found it. The tigers' den.

Khan sat up and he packed his knives, his phaser. He pocketed his tricorder, and went for the door.

"Khan," Marla pleaded, "You could get killed! You could get Joaquin or Suzette or anyone else killed just to hunt down the saber tooth tigers!"

"I won't be killed," he told her. "And none of the others will die."

"Khan, listen to me!"

"The risk will be worth it!" he shouted at her. "If we can save the rest of the population from the beasts, then I will do whatever I have to." He glared at her with his burning blue eyes, and he said, "But you will not question my choices or decisions, nor doubt my abilities."

"What? I wasn't," she said.

"You mean to dissuade me from hunting these monsters. Do you do so out of doubt in my strength and capabilities? My power?" He waited for her answer.

She shook her head. "No. No I don't doubt you," she said. "But I don't want to lose you."

"You do not have to worry, then," he told her. He stepped out of the shuttle, but she continued to follow. "Stay here and wait for me to call you. I will contact you once we have slaughtered them."

She opened her mouth to protest again, but she stopped. Instead, she said, "Yes, Sir."

She watched him meet up with Joaquin, Suzette, Ms. Rao, Harluf (he was a bastard, she knew now, but he was still a good hunter), Zuleika (for her stealth? She had been an assassin, after all), and Rodriguez. He must have volunteered after what had happened to Lutjen and Gorinksy. Only six? Six superhumans against the tigers? What was he thinking!?

Marla watched them leave, debating in her mind. She had seen the location, as well. She could key in the coordinates or follow Khan's party with her tricorder and try to help…

_You? Help? You're an ordinary human! What can you do against a pack of deadly tigers?_

Hello again, doubts. Or, in this case, perhaps reason. She knew she wasn't strong enough. She knew she wasn't as strong as the Augments, or as intelligent. She knew that if they had more people, maybe…

Khan wouldn't risk too many others. He had said he didn't want anyone else to die. He said he was risking his life, obviously the others. And the people taken with him were their absolute best and strongest. He'd never agree to anyone who was inexperienced in hunting.

_I can't just sit here and wait._

She ran back to her shuttle, and took the coordinates in to her tricorder, then picked up her sling. She'd get rocks on the way. The heaviest she could lift with one hand (which had increased to nearly twenty pounds now). With only the desire to help Khan and the others set in her mind, she went off after the hunting party.

They had a head start of only a few minutes, but they had obviously chosen not to simply 'walk' to the jungle. Even running, she had no sign of their actual trail. She followed the signal and signatures on her tricorder through the fields that stretched before the heavy forest ahead swallowed up the view. Even running, the woman took likely twice, if not three times as long to reach the dense trees, ferns, and grasses. She stepped in to the jungle, looking down occasionally at her tricorder's screen, to hone in on her targets.

Of course, that would have been fine if the targets had remained stationary. As she looked down a third time, she saw that the larger masses that the tracker had been fixed on were moving. And some were moving fast. Four beasts that were going at quick speed, and… Then concentrating on a single location. Her eyes widened.

_Oh God, no! Khan!_

She ran looked up and checked her direction, and headed deeper in to the jungle. In the distance she heard roars, growing louder as she got nearer. She called out, "Khan? Joaquin? Suzette? Anyone? Where are you?"

A roar erupted too close for comfort and the ground rumbled. In seconds, trees split away as a massive tiger barreled through. She barely had enough time to throw herself out of its path. Rao clung to the top of it, holding on with a bison-hair rope, her spear in her other hand. She stabbed the tiger's neck with her spear, and then swung herself down off of it. Zuleika came out of the woods, following them, and she glared as soon as she saw Marla. The Amazon's lips parted in a snarl, showing that she hadn't been able to get her tooth replaced or fixed.

She was in trouble.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Zuleika sneered. "You're going to get us killed! We had that thing cornered!"

"I was-" Marla started.

"Shut up," she hissed. "Get the hell out of here before you draw anything else to us!"

"Zuleika" Rao called softly, "I need some help with this thing's head. I need my rope."

Zuleika shoved Marla away and walked over to the bleeding tiger. As they came close to the head, Marla saw the creature's paws twitching.

"It's alive," she said, voice shaking.

"What? Bull," said Zuleika, grabbing tufts of fur.

"It's not dead yet! Stop!" cried Marla.

"Would you shut up?" asked Rao, "You'll draw more-"

The tiger's jaws opened and it snapped them tight on Rao's leg. She shrieked in pain, and the bones crunched. Marla ran forward as Zuleika took her knife and tried to drive it in to the tiger's brain, but the skull's bone must have been too thick. The massive feline held on.

"The eyes!" shouted Marla. She drew her own knife and got in close. "Get its eyes!"

She and Zuleika stabbed at the eyes of the tiger, making it roar once more as it finally died. The action made it let go of Rao's leg. She fell back, and the tiger was still.

Rao was panting and crying in pain. She squeezed on her thigh.

"Did it hit an artery?" Marla asked.

"Even if it didn't, she still might bleed out," Zuleika said. Marla grabbed her sling and she untied it. Then wrapped it around Rao's leg. She tightened it.

"How do you know that?" Zuleika asked.

"Basic first-aid. They teach everyone," Marla. "I'm a historian, not a doctor, but I do know a few things other than which American Presidents died in office and which didn't."

As Zuleika was helping Rao up off of the jungle floor, the rest of the hunting party emerged from the jungle. Marla turned around and smiled the instant she saw Khan. He was covered in blood (_Please let that be from the tigers_) and he was…angry.

"What are you doing here?" he said. His voice was soft, but the wrath in it was as thick as the damp air around them. He stalked over to Marla and grabbed her roughly by the arm. It was the most painful touch he'd given her since their first meeting. She yelped.

"Khan, you're hurting me," she whimpered.

"I told you to stay at the camp," he growled. "You've disobeyed me."

"I just-"

"Not a word," he ordered her. Khan shoved her away, and looked at Suzette, who was equally as blood soaked. "Take her back to camp, and watch her. Do not let her out of your sight."

Suzette moved around Marla and took hold of her other arm. The one that wasn't already bruising.

"Come on," Suzette murmured, leading Marla away.

* * *

As she waiting in their shuttle, Marla fidgeted. She felt tense. Worried.

_Frightened, Marla. You're fucking terrified, admit it._

Yes, she was. She was entirely afraid at the moment. She didn't know what Khan would do when he got back. After all of his other hunts, he always looked like he could stand another kill. Until now, he'd also taken out much of that fire in more amorous ways. The term 'animal in bed' was an understatement. She doubted, of course, he'd be up for that, and she wouldn't want him near her if that was what he did decide to do.

But what would he do, then, to her? An ordinary woman who had disobeyed him? Defied him?

She ran her hand over the bruise on her arm where he had squeezed her. She winced.

_He won't hurt me. Please, don't let him hurt me._

The door to the shuttle opened. Khan entered. She looked up at him, but the intensity of the heat and rage contained in his eyes made her turn her head away.

"I told you to stay here," he said. "You disobeyed me. Have I not been kind to you, Marla? Have I not given you a life here? A place of honor among my crew? Have I not let you in to the most intimate of positions? None of my followers have come as close as you. And yet you _defied_ me."

"I just wanted to help," she said quietly.

"Your 'help' nearly killed Parvarti," he snarled at her, coming close and yanking her up to her feet. "Your 'help' could have cost us one of our best protectors."

"And then I saved her!" she yelled. God, he was really hurting her now! He held her arm in a vice-grip, now. It was horrible!

He shoved her away so hard she stumbled to the floor.

"I will only keep those who obey me, Marla," he told her.

What? He couldn't mean what she thought he did.

"Khan?"

"If you will not obey me when I give you an order, I will not let you stay at my side."

_No…_

"Leave," he told her.

"Khan, wait…"

"LEAVE!" he shouted. "Or stay, you will choose, but only if that is what you _want_."

She got to her knees. Rose carefully to her feet. "I- I want to stay," she said. He couldn't make her leave, could he? Couldn't toss her away?

He looked over her body. "Beg." An order.

_Why are you letting him do this?_ She'd never let anyone else, ever, treat her this way. She had never had cause to even want someone who did these things. It wasn't what she used to do.

_But I've seen him be gentle. Felt him be gentle. I know what he can be._

She broke in to tears. The thought of being away from this man, who had given her moments of gentle conversation, sweet words, and showed her respect for her field, made her want to cry.

"Please," she begged him. She took a step near him. "Please, let me stay."

Khan lowered himself in to the shuttle's seats. Then he lifted his hand right hand up to her. She took it, and he drew her close. Guided her to sit on his thighs. Then he drew her arm in and kissed the places where he had grabbed her. Tender touches to her bruises.

"I wanted my crew to be safe," he whispered against the purple-mottled skin. "I was only thinking of your protection. I know what is best for you, my dear."

She sniffled, and tried to dry her face. "I'm sorry," she whimpered.

He cupped her chin and drew her face down. "I forgive you, my dear Marla." He pressed his lips to hers. His breath as he spoke against them was warm. His eyes were no longer full of anger.

"But do not disobey me anymore."

She shook her head slightly. "Never," she agreed.

"You'll do as I say?" he asked her.

"I…" she was shaking.

_Don't do it. He's too unpredictable. He's ruthless. Look at how he treated you._

_Didn't you say you weren't a doormat?  
_

This wasn't the same thing. This wasn't a jealous woman. This wasn't someone who was just trying to use her. This was Khan.

_I can't say no to Khan_

"I'll do anything you ask," she answered him. He repaid her submission with more kisses. He rewarded her with his hands gently stroking at her skin, at the places that made her quiver. He spoke with the most delicious voice in her ear.

"_One shade the more, one ray the less, had half impaired the nameless grace, which waves in every auburn tress,_" His fingers stroked at her hair, running through the grown out curls. "_Or softly lightens o'er her face. Where pure thoughts serenely sweet express, how pure, how dear their dwelling place._" His lips whispered the words between mouthfuls of her flesh, where he left less hateful bruises in the shape of his mouth. "_That cheek, and o'er that brow; so soft, so calm, yet eloquent._"

She cried out as she felt him slide in to her. Felt the throb, and pulse of him.

"Khan!" she gasped. Her hands reached upward along his back and she held on to him.

"My Marla," he groaned against her neck. "Do you need me?" he licked at her pulse-point. Nipped his teeth just under her ear.

"Yes!" she cried out. "God, yes, I need you!" She thought she might cry again.

He must have heard it in her voice. He slid his hand along her back. "Shhh," he said against her flushed, damp skin. "Shhh, I'm here. I'm here, and you're mine."

She let him pet her. Let him drive out every fear and let him show her how he'd forgiven her with each thrust until they reached the heights of euphoria.

She was so grateful that he let her stay.

* * *

AN: I wrote much of this chapter after finishing a viewing of _Space Seed_. It is amazing what Khan was able to get away with in that episode! Consider this, folks, a little tribute to that episode, and the birth of a great character.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: And so we delve in to the mind of our favorite genetically enhanced super-soldier.

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

Sentiment. It could be a useful thing to use against an enemy. Take the people they care for the most and either threaten them or hurt them. That always gained a result. Another strategy was to make your enemy sympathize with you- become the person they trust more than anyone else. Then when they least expect it, execute the final stage of the attack. Tried and true methods.

It was dangerous, however, to form sentiments of your own. Khan had already broken that rule in his attachments to his crew. The last of his race, and many loyal to him, still, after all of this time, he had grown to care for each one of them. And it nearly cost him everything. Still, he would kill for them. Kill to preserve his people. Kill to ensure their future.

That made it difficult, however, when he found himself forming sentiment toward Marla McGivers.

Yes, she had begun as an experiment of sorts. Take something half-realized by the Federation's elite and make her better. She had become a tool to use in the realization of his grand plan: the Empire of New Chandigarh. He admired and respected her intelligence, and was pleased to see her growth in strength and fighting skill.

But when he had disobeyed him… When that woman had deliberately left the encampment, it had raked across his mind like hot coals over bare flesh.

He had thought that her devotion to him would make her do anything. He had thought that she would be smart enough to avoid danger, and stay in a location that was virtually safe. He had expected more from her.

_The idea that she could have been killed_-

Or might have caused others to be killed

-_Galled him._

He had grown too sentimental. That was the only explanation. In his endeavors to draw her closer, and to make her submit to him in every way, he had also caused himself to become attached. He did not just want her unharmed to keep her allegiance, or to lose access to her knowledge. He actually wanted to protect her because she was something that belonged to him. He had even gone to extreme lengths to ensure that she would neither leave him nor disobey him again. Made her choose what she valued most- her independence or her worship of him- to ease his own mind as to what mattered to her.

How could this happen? When? He could not allow himself to become sentimental over an inferior human! It would be destructive! If he became too fixated on her, he could end up destroying what he had worked so hard to make.

_Calm yourself. She has not become _that_ important._

Ah, of course. When he retreated in to his mind, and let himself re-examine a problem, he was always able to find a solution.

If she was not as big of a distraction as he feared, then, what was she?

_A toy. She has always been a toy. The use of that toy has simply changed. _

Naturally. From something he could gain information from, like a computer database, she had become stress-relief tool. Each time he took her body flooded him with endorphins and oxytocin, and caused him to reach a mental Nirvana. For a few brief moments he was less concerned with the struggle to survive and the needs of his people and his brain could stop thinking entirely. It also allowed his body to engage in the second most primal of all actions (second only to killing). A natural outlet for the savage within him. Though it was just barely less destructive.

Still, he could not allow her to become more. The two entities- Marla the successful experiment and growing mold of what humanity could be, and Marla the sexual object- needed to be isolated. He also had another important thing to consider.

He had seen how his people were pairing up.

He had hoped, since presented with this new world and the necessity for their people to expand as a race, that many would seek out a suitable partner and begin procreation. The first day he had a chance to speak with Gideon, he had asked the doctor to keep him informed when women in the colony came to him with any signs of pregnancy. And thus far, many promising couples had already been established, and quite a few women were confirmed as pregnant (and if they were not, he had no doubt they would be soon).

But he knew that other women were holding out. Waiting for a specific reason. And that reason was likely himself. If those women thought he was exclusively engaged with Marla in those terms, they would seek out other potential mates. Some women he could allow to do this. Others he could not.

There were very few women in the settlement that were suitable for his needs, but they were there. Women with the requisite combinations of strength and intelligence that could be a match to his own. Women who could easily rule beside him. Women he could let himself be aroused by, and engage in intercourse with often enough to ensure a successful conception. Possibly multiple ones, if need be. He had to have heirs. Children who were as perfect, as superior, in every way, to carry on his bloodline. He needed to build his dynasty.

_And what about Marla?_

Who ever said he needed to cast away a willing bedmate? She would still have a use and a purpose. That would never change.

After all, she still belonged to him. She would _always_ belong to him.

Having a proper Queen, though, would ensure that Marla did not become too much of a weakness for him.

_Yes. That would be the best course of action._

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

It was funny, really, how a person could fall so easily.

She wondered, sometimes, why she wanted him so much. Why he was so important. It wasn't just because of the things he did for her. The purpose he gave her, or the kindness he showed, or even the way he would make love to her. There was more. More than the conversations, and the poetry, and the exchanging of ideas about the colony. More than being able to see his face, asleep as she'd always known it, and alive, as he had appeared in archived portraits and videos from the past.

It was everything.

Every piece of him. Even how brutal he could be. How full of fire and heat he was after a hunt, how he could be so commanding and exude the strength and the solidity of a proper King, how he could be gentle and so very, very caring.

She regretted disappointing him by leaving during the tiger hunt. She had put herself in danger. She knew that now. Marla had hurt the man she loved by making him afraid, and she never wanted to do that. She hadn't wanted to worry him. She was already hurting so many back on Earth by letting them think that she was dead. That couldn't be helped, but worrying Khan unnecessarily could.

She wanted to be by his side. She wanted to be able to help him, and give him anything that she could. Whether it was her knowledge of the past, any theories she developed with Liam or others, or if it was her body. She took comfort in his arms, and she did all she could to give it as well. Whenever he buried his face in to her breasts, or nuzzled at her neck, her thighs, her belly, she gave him all that he was seeking and more. She wanted to soothe him. Wanted to give him peace of mind and spirit.

'_Trust me with your heart.'_

He had had it even before he had even opened his eyes. Before he had known she existed, when he had been a face inside a frost-cornered square of glass, he had been given her heart.

As she lay with him, watching him sleep, now, surrounded by warmth instead of ice, she had one thought.

_I love him._

_I love _you_, Khan_.

She moved closer to him. It was still dark out. She knew that much. Joaquin and Suzette were curled up on the other side of the cabin. The tiny Asian woman curled in a ball, cocooned with the large Augment man in two blankets worked in to one. Marla nosed at Khan's long, sinewy neck, and kissed him just beneath his chin.

Khan's skin was developing color. It wasn't marble with a splash of soft pink tones, anymore. It was beginning to grow golden. The humidity and heat of the coming rainy seasons had made him remove the old black shirt, and now he walked about bare-chested. It showed. In time, he would become a bronze god.

He stirred from her kisses. Made a soft grunting sound. His pale eyes peeked down at her through thick, dark eyelashes.

"What?" he murmured.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just wanted to kiss you. Go back to sleep."

He was silent as his eyes flicked back and forth over her face, then down along her body. Under their newest blanket- tiger fur, made from one of the four animals they had killed recently- Khan took her hand, and he guided it between his hard, strong thighs.

"I may require assistance, then." He could be so damn cheeky!

She didn't mind that, though. "My pleasure," she answered, her voice a hushed breath as she wrapped her fingers around hard, silky flesh and began to stroke. Eventually their bodies shifted and they joined again, being as quiet as possible. It wouldn't do to wake up their 'roommates'.

After their silent, stolen moment of passion, Marla felt sufficiently tired, but the thought was still in her mind. It moved to her lips before she succumb to the need to sleep.

_I love you._

It stayed on the tip of her tongue. No need to break the quiet afterglow.

* * *

AN: A very short chapter, this, but necessary for the setup. It may be a bit before I get it written though. There's so much I want to do, I want to get everything collected mentally, first. Stay tuned!


	19. Chapter 19

AN: As they say, there is always a calm before the storm. Today we get the first claps of thunder.

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

Every day she checked the tracking systems to see how far off the storms were.

It wasn't that she was paranoid. Really, the land needed rain. Their meager collection of edible plants needed to take root, be nourished, and grow. They needed the rain. They needed the fish, and the other added benefits that the weather would bring to them. But Marla was feeling on edge about it, too. With the percentile differences on when the rains would come being so wide, she wanted to try and have a better idea.

Sometimes she was so anxious about it that she thought she could see the horizon turning dark with thick, black clouds.

As she was doing one of her checks one day, the shuttle door opened. Suzette walked in, carrying with her a new set of rock and bone knives.

"You ready to advance today, Marla?" Suzette asked.

"Just a moment. I need to record these readings."

"Looking at them constantly won't make them get here any faster or any slower. Come on. We've got a lot of work to do on your grip."

"It wasn't terrible last time," Marla argued, stepping away from the console at last.

"It wasn't up to par, either," Suzette replied. Marla followed the Augment woman outside to go to their usual training space.

After all the days of being under Suzette's tutelage, Marla had become a very adept little fighter, she felt. She could lift heavier weight than she had ever been able to before (with a single arm she could go up to 30 pounds now), and while she wasn't quite able to throw Joaquin over her shoulder yet, she was able to stun him long enough with a kick to the head to gain any advantage over any other type of human-sized threat.

In their training area, Marla unsheathed her own knife, and Suzette tossed her another. Her teacher held another pair in each hand, as well.

"We'll start with basics," Suzette told her, "Then we'll get to the advanced stuff."

"Fine." Marla lifted her right hand up, her left low. Suzette mirrored her. They started with slow parrying moves. Just getting their muscles ready. Then they increased their speed. Added thrusts of either knife forward, blocking every move. When all of the moves that they'd practiced already were done, several times over, Suzette smiled.

"Here's the new one. Incorporating your kicks with your knives. Keep your grip. Even if I connect, don't lose it," Suzette told her. Marla kept herself alert to the other woman's movements, and saw, just in the corner, when Suzette's foot pivoted just a bit.

It swung up, and Marla ducked. She swiped her bone knife at Suzette, but she blocked it. Suzette used her other foot and it connected, and Marla nearly lost her grip, but she held on just enough to recover and stabbed up again. Suzette leapt back.

Marla took a defensive stance, her arms up to block contact to her chest. Suzette advanced, and made to kick-

Marla moved to dodge but then Suzette knocked her arm (just enough force to bruise but not break anything) with the handle of her right knife, causing Marla to lose her grip, dropping her own knife. Then Suzette swiped her other knife at Marla's forearm, and then stopped with its blade just at her throat.

"If that were a proper cut and not a shallow scratch, that would disable your arm," Suzette told her. "And you'd be dead in seconds."

"Thanks for the warning," Marla said. She looked at her arm. It really was just a scratch. "Do you have to leave the marks?"

"Those little things won't even leave a scar on you," Suzette told her, picking up the weapons.

"But they could still get infected," Marla told her.

"God, you always bring that up," Suzette sighed. She handed Marla her bone knife back, and then said, "Go get an antiseptic-bandage from the Doc. I'll be here."

"And no more cuts," Marla told her.

"Wuss," Suzette called at her as the auburn woman walked off toward the medical shuttle.

"Brute," Marla tossed back. Their amusement belied their insults, of course.

She went right toward their 'hospital', keeping her arm covered up as much as she could. It was well and good that the Augments could recover from possible infections and diseases quickly, but Marla still had limitations. With the possible unknown bacteria and viruses that could exist here, she wasn't going to take a chance on anything getting in to her bloodstream. So, any scrape, scratch, or cut she got, she went straight to Gideon.

As she approached, she saw the shuttle door open. Not unusual, with the possibility that an accident could happen or someone could need help. It didn't do to have it shut up all the time. Gideon was the sole occupant of the med-shuttle, anyway. At the entryway, she heard that Gideon was speaking to someone.

"I'm estimating that Amy's at least ten weeks along," Dr. Hawkins said. "She's fine to do the watch for a bit longer, but eventually she'll need to be rotated out."

"Very well. She and Tomas make an excellent pair. I don't doubt that their children will be exceptionally agile. A good asset for mountain terrain."

Khan? Marla moved slightly away from the door. Best not to interrupt. Must be important.

"I agree, Sir," Gideon said, "But don't jump to conclusions. There are other factors that could come in to play. There's always the chance that the more recessive genes could be expressed, and without the necessary tools available to implement effective gene-manipulation techniques, ultimately the result of the final offspring will be something of a crap-shoot."

"Has Claudia come, yet?" Khan asked him.

"No, my Lord," Gideon answered.

"Abigail?"

"No, my Lord, I don't think she's even seeing someone," Gideon told him.

Why did Khan want to know this?

"How is Pavarti's leg?" Khan inquired.

"Healing well, Sir," Gideon sounded confused.

"Good. I will need to take a moment and see her, soon," Khan mused. "Thank you, Gideon. Notify me when other pregnancies are confirmed." He stepped outside.

He turned his head, likely realizing that she was there. "Marla," he said, "I thought you were training."

"I just," she cleared her throat, "I just needed an antiseptic from Dr. Hawkins."

"Hmm," was his only response, and he started to walk away.

"Khan- Sir- I heard you asking about the pregnant women," she said. "But Claudia, Abby don't have boyfriends."

"I'm aware," he said, sounding oddly. As if he were bored, or wanting her to hurry up and get on with talking.

"It's just… Why does it matter?" she asked him. She felt a very thick queasiness beginning in her stomach.

"They are the prime candidates," he answered her.

"For what?" she asked. He let out a breath. As if the answer should be obvious.

"For bearing my children, Marla," he told her, his tone akin to an adult talking down to a child. Condescending. "Surely you would have noted the compatibility."

The queasiness settled in to a solid, metal lump that filled up her stomach, and her chest began to ache.

_He didn't just say that, did he?_

"I," she ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "Khan, what about us?" she asked him.

"What _about _us?" he asked her.

"_**Us**_! You, me, and what we do, every night. What about us?" _Please let him be joking. It's a horrible one, but let it be a joke!_

He looked her over, and then smirked. And let out his deep chuckle. "Ahh… You are worried that I won't keep you if I have a proper bride." He took her chin in his hand in that familiar, oh so gentle gesture.

"My dear," he said, "Given your extensive knowledge of history, you know that many a kingdom was ruled by a King who kept a strong Queen at his side to bear him children, and courtesans waiting to warm his bed. And with your expertise and intelligence, you will always have a purpose… in _my_ court." He let go of her chin. Stepped away. "Resume your training and return to the shuttle when you are finished." He dismissed her, just that easily, and went on his way.

The world went silent around her.

_You are an idiot._

_His _courtesan_? He's just equated you to a glorified whore. You naïve, cloud-headed little moron._

_**STOP IT!**_

Her legs gave out and she went to the ground. She grabbed at her hair, and she felt the stinging heat of tears beginning to well in her eyes. She let them fall. God, she could literally feel pain from this. Her chest felt like it had been hit.

She could feel her heart actually shatter inside of her.

She didn't know how long she sat there, crying quietly and feeling her heart come apart, piece by piece. The silence didn't break until she heard someone calling her name.

"Marla?" Suzette. She must have come to find her. Right. Her training…

"Marla, what's wrong?" Suzette asked, kneeling beside her. "Did you hurt yourself? Can you stand?"

She turned her head to the Augment woman, and her body shuddered. Then she choked out a cracked sob. "Suzette…"

"What's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" Suzette asked. She was worried. Actually worried.

Marla needed someone to worry about her right now. She sobbed again, grabbed Suzette's leather vest, and she let out a soft wail as she leaned in and put her head against the other woman's chest.

Suzette's concern seemed to grow, and she helped Marla to her feet. "Come on," Suzette said. "Come with me. Tell me what happened."

Marla obeyed. She followed her and when they were away from possible prying eyes or eavesdroppers, she told her everything. Khan's interest in the uninvolved Augment women, and his horrible words. Suzette stayed quiet the whole time.

A few minutes passed. Marla tried to dry her face, and finally the other woman broke her silence.

"I see his reasoning. He wants to have strong children to continue his legacy. Any ruler would want that." Suzette took a long, hard breath. "But that doesn't make him any less of an asshole."

That made Marla glance up.

"What are we going to do?" asked Suzette.

They had a plan. She didn't know how good it could be. She _did_ know that she didn't want Khan to touch her again.

And if she followed the usual routine, she knew that he would.

Training, most days, went on for a few hours, yet, so they had time. Suzette went to get a few 'props', as she'd said. Told Marla to go back to the shuttle to get anything she'd want, or get rid of anything she didn't. So she did, making sure that no one would notice her. That wasn't too hard to do with some of the colonists, of course.

She dropped off her tricorder. That would make her easier to track, even with where she was going. And she pulled out her old uniform from one of the storage containers in the shuttle. It still had the holes from the burns she'd suffered nearly four months ago, but it was clean now (she had washed it, just out of sentiment) and she could use it. The uniform went in to her ration bag with her knife, sling, and rock pouch. She'd need something to survive.

When she was done, she headed out to meet with Suzette at the test-house.

Suzette was waiting, with two buckets in either hand. The buckets had been crafted using wood from the nearby jungle, a sort of bonding compound made from the original sod mixture, and tied together with leather. Each was filled up, with rocks visible at the top. She nodded to Marla, and led her toward the eastern boarder of the settlement.

"Where are you two going?" asked the guard they passed.

"Up to the slopes. Endurance training," Suzette informed him. He seemed to buy the explanation, and let them go without further questions.

They traveled for nearly an hour. Getting a good three miles away from the settlement. Once well away, Suzette dropped the buckets, and she threw the rocks out. Marla took out her sling and pouch and added some of those rocks to her small arsenal.

In each bucket, concealed by the rocks, was enough food, if Marla only ate a little bit at a time, to last about five, maybe six days. She would still need to hunt (if she could build a fire that no one would notice), and still forage, but this would get her started.

"I'll keep them from looking for as long as I can," Suzette told her.

"Won't they ask questions about why I'm not with you?" Marla asked.

"I wasn't head of security for announcing myself as loudly as possible," Suzette told her. "I can get back, don't worry."

"And no one will really care about me, anyway," Marla added, looking down.

"Look," Suzette told her, "For what it's worth… You're a decent person. I'm going to miss you."

Marla's lips twitched. The closest thing to a smile since she'd heard those awful things.

"I'll miss you too," Marla whispered.

Suzette took a step back. "Well, go on. Get to running, Future Woman. Prove that you can survive out there."

Marla looked up at the Asian Augment, then turned away, and started to run.

_I had at least one real friend. Goodbye, Suzette._

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

"Pavarti's leg is indeed healing at an excellent rate. Within weeks, she will be able to rejoin the watch, and will be able to participate in possible fishing expedition."

He sat in the shuttle, recording the most recent events. He had begun these recordings the first night that he had spent in the original camp sight, and continued them through each progression. They served as a means to keep his mind occupied, and now, he felt they would someday be of some importance. A testament to the building of his empire. His descendants (and the future denizens of New Chandigarh) would likely regard these recordings as important historic documents. Future rulers would listen to them and know what achievements, and sacrifices, had been made to ensure the success of their civilization.

"I have yet to decide which of my three candidates will be most suited to being my Empress, but there each has promise." He turned off the recording mode, and then he checked the time. He frowned. It was taking Marla too long to return.

He turned on the messaging system and called Marla's tricorder. She would answer. She always kept her device on her.

However, he heard the responding chirp inside the shuttle. Muffled.

_What?_

He stood and started searching the cabin. The seats. Then he opened the compartments. He found Marla's tricorder in one. That did not make any sense. She had had it with her when he had spoken to her. Had she returned and left it? That wasn't like her.

He stepped out of the shuttle.

"Joaquin," he called, "Bring Marla to me." The larger man nodded to his Emperor, and he left to follow the order. Khan waited at the shuttle for a few moments. When Joaquin returned, he brought Suzette, but not Marla.

"Where is Marla?" he asked them. "Her training should have ended an hour ago."

"After we did our endurance training, Sir, I sent her off, like always. She should have been back by now," the woman answered.

He snarled, and then gestured for them to follow him. He walked through the camp, signaling to others to come and follow.

At the fire pit, he stood, and he called out to the assembled, "Marla has vanished from the camp. I want search parties. Three men each. Search the valley, along the river, and the mountains north and eastward. Do not return until you find her, or darkness falls."

The various men and women broke apart in to groups of three and went out through the lands, armed with both of their primitive and their modern weapons, they split apart to search for Marla.

Khan stayed with those who could not be allowed to leave the camp unaided. He had confidence that Marla would be found and brought back. Then he would ask her why she had strayed so far from the colony. Thirty minutes would be enough, likely.

But thirty minutes passed. Then fifty. An hour. Two. Three. As time ticked by, his anger grew. She should have been found long before now!

_She should never have vanished at all._

When night fell, he watched as each search party returned, without the auburn haired human. Now the rage in his blood had stirred itself up to a caged frenzy. His breathing had accelerated. He was on the verge of eruption.

"Why have you not found her?" he yelled at them all. "Where is Marla McGivers?" He stalked through each group. "Did one of you kill her? I ordered you to leave her alone! Did you defy my will?" he growled at each face. Faces he had known for centuries. People he had killed for. People he had striven to protect.

"No!"

Khan turned. Suzette had been the one who shouted out. Joaquin looked down at her. Khan's eyebrow rose.

"What do you mean, 'no'? Is there something you neglected to tell me, Suzette?" he asked her, walking toward his trusted guard.

"Yeah," Suzette replied. "But I wasn't sure you'd be very willing to hear, because most men don't care when a 'courtesan' or 'concubine' or whatever decides she's worth more than a good fuck."

Khan's eyes flicked over Suzette's face and he attempted to process this. Did that mean that Marla had taken offense? Why? Being the private mistress to the lord of this land was supposed to be a place of honor. He had even assured her that he would still need her. Hadn't she understood?

Apparently not. What was more, this woman, Suzette Ling, whom he had trusted for many, many years, had now, quite obviously, betrayed him.

He lifted a shaking fist up. Then, with a loud, feral yell, he brought it down on her face. The force of the impact knocked the woman down. He loomed over her to hit her again, but at the last moment, he stopped.

There were other ways of punishing those who abused his trust.

"Daniel," he called out. "Javier!" The two men came to his sides. "…Take Miss Ling, and beat her. But do not kill her. Then take her to the borders and let her lay there. Do not let her return to the settlement until sunrise…"

_Let her survive a night unaided and alone. Marla will be doing that tonight, after all._

Khan turned away from her, and he glared up at Joaquin.

"If you try to help her, I will banish you both to the jungle and you will make your fortunes there as you see fit."

Joaquin only nodded, his eyes cast down.

Khan returned to the shuttle. Once inside, he let out a bellowing roar and he turned to the walls. He began to beat at them. He dented them. Caused some to crack and break. He spent several hours assaulting his own living quarters, letting the beast within unleash in the brutal rage.

* * *

AN: A big thanks again to my beta for going over this! Stay alert folks. There is more to come!


	20. Chapter 20

AN: I'm deeply sorry for the wait! I recently got hired at a new job, and the training and work hours have made it very difficult to spare time for writing. I hope these next two chapters make up for the wait!

* * *

When she had set out, Marla hadn't known where she would go, or what she would do. She was just trying to get as far away as possible.

So, for six hours, she climbed through the rocky mountain range. Six long, hot, muggy hours and scrambling around. Around the third hour since saying goodbye to Suzette, she had had to climb up on to a shelf of stone. Her reward for her troubles were sore, scraped fingers and knees, but she was at least a little farther away. A little farther out of sight. She ignored the hunger pangs for a while, but that was ultimately what made her choose to look for a place to camp.

She needed somewhere that was fairly hidden. Out of the way, and able to keep her safe from rain as well as from predators or anyone who might come looking for her. Marla checked in many places, hoping to find at least a small hole to crawl in to.

What she found was far better.

She had nearly walked on by the opening. The way the mountain side and the rocks formed created the illusion of a tiny crack in the wall. It looked like a nook, really, no bigger than a small broom closet, the entryway being, roughly, three feet wide, and just over five feet tall. The only reason she paused was because she heard the sounds of voices in the distance behind her. She could just make out the sound of her name.

They were looking for her now.

She ducked in to the nook in the rocks. After she entered, she saw that the extended back wall and the right exterior had concealed a turn that led deeper in to the mountain. She took one step toward it, but then stopped.

What if something was hiding in here? What if something lived there? She could be going from the frying pan in to the fire.

_Better than being caught and dragged back._

That made up her mind. She went around the hidden corner and in to the shadows.

The light that filtered in through the narrow opening helped Marla find a place far enough from the entry that others passing along wouldn't be able to see her, and let her have enough light to see her surroundings. She could see that the cave went further still, deep in to the heart of the mountain. She wouldn't be able to travel any further, however, until she could scavenge some wood or even the bushes that grew here and there to use for kindling. She knew three ways to make a fire without matches, so it would be easy once she had the necessary fuel.

All of that had to wait until the search party left the area.

She listened for them, and stayed backed up tight against the wall in the cave. She heard the voices getting louder as the search party drew closer. She tried to keep her breathing down, took deep, quiet breaths and let out long exhales to keep from making any louder noises. She didn't want to attract them. Didn't want them to hear her. If they did, she knew that they would take her back to Khan.

As the last rays of light faded and darkness began to close in around her, the calls stopped. The search party was going back to the settlement. A part of her hoped this would be the only one. She hoped that after this they would all think she wasn't worth the effort, and be done with her.

That thought made her stomach sour.

But not enough to make her unable to eat.

She had forgotten entirely about eating while she had been afraid of being found. Now would likely be the best time for her to eat. She moved closer to the opening (just enough to see with the last bit of daylight) and she opened up her pack. Half of a strip of dried, smoked meat, half a packet of dehydrated peaches made up her first meal since leaving. It wasn't bad as far as flavors went.

But it made her remember her meals on the escape shuttle. Months ago, but it felt like years. She looked down at her fingers. Felt the calluses. So different from how soft her hands had been when the most she did was tend to paper books, paint, and occasionally work the coms-system (a default job for her when she didn't need to tend to the tubes or have other duties). Not even the light calisthenics that she used to enjoy could have toughened her skin or strengthened her muscles the way life on this planet had.

Remembering herself from then made her remember, as well, how she had felt about Khan. She thought of all the little warnings her subconscious, and yes that written record itself, had given her about the man, and how she had ignored them all. Why? Because of his face. How handsome he was, and how peaceful he looked while sleeping. How deceptive he seemed, all of that power hidden under such a fair disguise.

Of course his nature would be as duplicitous.

What made her think that he would suddenly love her? Why had she been so eager to accept his attention and his sweet words (God, he used Byron on her!) and his touches? Why had she been so stupid?

_Because he made you feel _special. _Because he _made_ you _love_ him._

She took out her old uniform dress, and stood. She took off the sari she was wearing, and unfolded its many tucks and turns, until it was just a regular, fire-proof, insulated blanket again. She put the old, burned dress back on, then she lay out the sari beneath her. The second blanket came out, next, and she draped it on to her. She curled up, and as the night took away all the light, Marla wept. Let her heart bleed with every tear she shed.

* * *

She felt absolutely horrible in the morning. Her stomach was turning flips and her head was pounding. It wasn't until she tried to eat the other half of her peach-packet that she vomited, however.

_Well that's going to be a fun smell to live with._

After cleaning up her mouth, and moving her little 'bed' to a cleaner spot that wouldn't get her near the smell of her own sick, she tried again. Everything else she pulled out of her pack made her stomach turn sour again, until she got a piece of her old friend, the sponge bread.

_It's food. That's what counts._

She ate until her stomach was more cooperative, hoped she wasn't getting a cold or flu or something, then Marla decided to go out and find some kindling to make a fire. She wanted to be able to cook some of her rations, would need to cook anything she caught, and she really wanted to see what else was in this cave.

She strapped her knife to her upper arm, set her rock pouch and the sling around her waist, and she stepped through the cave's narrow opening and went out in to the first rays of sunshine.

The sun wasn't quite so comforting when she faced the east. The distance showed what she had feared for days. The walls of clouds were not only thicker and darker, but closer than ever. The rainy-seasons would start much sooner than she'd thought, before, and that meant that if she was going to have any fire kindling, she would need to gather it all. Today.

She went through the slopes and searched every crevice near her cave, and took as many branches from the bushes that she could gather. Even the prickle-bushes with their barbs (thankfully these had been tested ages ago. They weren't poisonous). Then she took them all in to the cave and she set aside a few branches to add as time passed by. She made a small fire with a stolen flare's ignition compound, then dipped a leafy branch in to the flames, and waited for the leaves to catch. She then lifted her make-shift torch, and started exploring.

A the natural air-flow caught the smoke that lifted from her little fire, and seemed to flow deeper through the cave. Seeing more of the interior, Marla followed a natural dip down through the mountain. She pulled a rock from her sling-pouch and she scraped it along the wall, to make markers. The walls themselves were bumpy, but smooth, and she could see the silvery veins of natural minerals and metals inside of the rock. Something had certainly been here once that carved out these tunnels. Whether the thing that had done it naturally was time or an animal, she had no way of knowing. Not without this exploration. So, she followed the cave's inner tunnel until she came to a fork.

"Which…way…" she said softly to herself. She wasn't sure. She noted that her branch was dwindling, really. She needed to get back. She didn't even know how much time had passed. She marked her progress, then turned back, following her own guides back to the front chamber of the cave.

As she returned, she heard the calls again. Another search party. They must have started while she was out gathering her branches and finally reached her. Had that much time gone by already? She added her branch to her fire, and hoped no one would see the flicker of the flames from the opening outside. The smoke wasn't a problem, but she hated to have her one source of heat and cooking be what gave her away.

It didn't. As with the day before, the party left as the sun disappeared, leaving her fully alone again.

Marla sighed, and dropped down close enough to her fire to pull out her bread. If it was all that she could eat, then she would at least toast it and give it some flavor. She warmed it near the fire, then took a few bites. Her stomach protested, but she still held it down.

"Please," she said out loud, again, "Don't let me be getting sick." She ran her hand through her hair, then sighed and laid out her blankets. "I can't get sick… I don't have a doctor to check me now."

No, no doctor to help her out. That was with the search party that had left, and being relegated to a toy by the 'Great Khan'. Whatever was wrong, she'd just have to tough it out.

She didn't remember if she dreamed. But she was woken up by the sound of a loud, earth-shaking thunderclap.

She sat up straight, struggling slightly with her coverings, and looked out through the opening to the cave. Her fire had died, but the lightening that flashed outside bounced its light along the walls and lit the room, briefly. She heard the loud rushing noise and felt the wind as it swept through.

The rain!

She got up and went to look. Marla stopped just in the opening, to keep herself from being pelted with the rain. What she saw made her jaw dropped. It wasn't simply rain. It was a bloody monsoon!

The water flowed from the clouds above in a shining sheet. Her eyes couldn't believe it. The wind sent it in a slant, and she could see the places down in the valley below where the water was gathering and overflowing. She was so glad that the settlement had been built up on higher ground, and even happier that they had dug their trenches ahead of time.

Thoughts of the colony made her chest hurt and her stomach twist again.

_Thinking of the place makes you sick._

Likely the answer. She turned away and went back in to the cave. With possible hunting now out of the question, Marla was left with few options for what to do with her time. She certainly couldn't go outside until the rain let up. She re-started her fire, took two branches, and tucked one away in her belt. She lit the other branch, and returned to the fork in the cave's tunnels, then went along the right path.

This was her routine from then on. For three days after, she would explore the tunnels. Some wound deep within the mountain, seemingly endless. And others seemed to come to short ends, requiring her to turn back and re-trace her route until she found other pathways. And even so, she knew she had to stop, because this would really deplete her kindling supply. Still, the formations of the rock-wall, and the shimmering mineral veins were amazing. The whole place really made her want to talk to Liam about it. The mineral might be what was blocking the tracking systems in the shuttles.

That became something of a problem, for her, and she knew it. With every discovery she made, she thought of how it connected back to the problems they had had at the colony, or she found something she wanted to share with Liam, or even Suzette. And when her nausea continued even without thoughts of the colony, she wanted to talk to Gideon about it, badly.

God, she hated to admit it. She really did. But by the fifth day of her self-imposed exile, she missed it! She missed Liam and Gideon, and especially Suzette. She hoped her training with her friend would help her with anything she came across in the tunnels, but so far she hadn't had any problems.

And it wasn't just the people she cared about. She wanted to know how the rest of the colonists were doing now that the rains had come. She wanted to know about the sod-house and if it was holding up with the monsoon. She wanted to see if the fish really had come down the river with the rain.

_It isn't fair. I helped establish that colony. Without my help, how far would they have gotten? Why should I have to leave?_

She knew why. Her pride, and her self-worth. And the pain of her heart.

And that made it worse, really. She still loved Khan. Even though she hated how he saw her, and how he had managed to get under her skin, she still cared. Because he was a good leader to his people, even with his attitude toward her.

_I refuse to be just his mistress, or some servant that he keeps around for sex._

She still would have stayed if she hadn't been so afraid that if she denied him, he would force her.

_Why are you so sure he would do that?_

_He made me beg to stay with him, after I had helped. He had choked me when he first saw me. If he did those things out of nothing, what will he do to me for leaving the way I did? I won't take a chance._

She went to sleep on the fifth night, hoping that everyone would be all right.

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AN: In our next chapter, dear readers, we'll see how Khan is handling things.


	21. Chapter 21

AN: Here's my second promised chapter! I hope the wait was worth it, everyone. Be on the look out for some famous novel quotes!

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_**Khan's POV**_

He sat alone, in the dented, disheveled shuttle, with anger still emanating from him like steam. Suzette had been allowed back in to the camp just after sunrise, and Joaquin had immediately taken her to Gideon. Khan didn't care- she had been punished and had endured the night. What made him angry was the fact that he had been betrayed by her at all.

Suzette was among the most faithful of all of his people, since the day he brought her in to be the head of his personal security, when he had been a Prince and ruling in his palace in Chandigarh, his original kingdom in the Punjab region of India. The woman had not only killed to protect him, but had also trained many of his old guard in the seven martial-arts styles she had mastered, and her devotion to the progression of his kingdom, and her faithfulness to him when he had taken his people in to exile, had been commendable.

He never would have thought she would turn against him. Especially over another woman's complaint.

That riled him as well. Even as he sent the search parties out again, in the early morning hours, telling them not to return until either they had found Marla, or until the sunset, he had been furious.

How dare she? How dare Marla leave him? After all he had done! After the graces and the mercies and the favors he had granted the woman, how could she simply _leave_? She had begged him to let her stay- _begged!_ - Because he had told her to just a few weeks ago! How could she suddenly want to abandon him, and all the hard work they had done together to make this colony a success?

Had it really been such an offense? He had seen nothing wrong with it. Marla would still have been in his confidence- he would have sought her knowledge and expertise and listened to her opinions. He would also have kept her in his bed. Not every night, of course, but he would never have denied her the pleasures that they had been sharing thus far. He simply would have also had a wife to give him suitable offspring.

Did she not understand the importance of having Superior heirs to continue his line?

At mid-day, Khan left the shuttle to perform his duties around the camp. Ensure that preparation for the rains continued. Check in with the remaining guard. When he went to talk with Liam McPherson, the scientist was troubled.

"My Lord," Liam said, "The clouds in the distance are closer, and larger, than we previously hypothesized. At this rate, it could be days, if not hours, before they're on us. What's more, this might not be just some heavy rains and minor flooding. We may be looking at a worst-case scenario, Sir. This storm system could be a monsoon."

Liam then launched in to a massive explanation. "This planet's gravitational and magnetic fields are different from those of the Earth's! The energies have an entirely different flow! I tested the natural polarity with a rudimentary compass, and the needled pointed South! Not North! It's like if you flipped the whole of the planet Earth upside down and hit the rewind button on a VCR to go back to the beginning of time."

"Get to your point, Liam," the Sikh sighed.

"This could very well last for a month, Sir, possibly two. What's more, we have no idea how much damage this storm could actually cause to the area."

"We'll simply need to be careful not to leave the camp," Khan told him, "And make sure that the rations for each shuttle are accurate for the newly projected time."

"Sir," Liam added, "What about Marla? She's out there, and if that rain starts-".

"She will be found before this day's end," Khan told him, his voice firm and confident. "If she is still missing, then the rains will drive her back here. She will not stay out in the wild while the heavens open their floodgates." He stepped away, and returned to his quarters.

Shortly after, Joaquin entered. Khan looked over toward him. He had asked each border-guard if any word had come from the search parties, but all replied in the negative. Perhaps that had changed.

His Bodyguard shook his head.

Apparently not.

"Is Suzette healing?" He might still have been angry for her actions, but she was still useful. Suzette and Joaquin was a well matched pair- their offspring would be crucial to their race's continuation.

Joaquin nodded. Then he cleared his throat. "Pregnant, Sir."

Khan hummed in his throat. "Good… The two of you should find another shuttle to stay in."

Joaquin looked confused. He started to open his mouth.

"Are _you_ going to question me, now, Joaquin?" Khan's eyes echoed his voice's tone in the cold warning he gave to the other man.

Joaquin shook his head, and answered, "No, Sir." Joaquin never spoke when a gesture or a nod, or simply obeying the command, sufficed. The words had far more meaning to Khan than they would to others. Joaquin would obey, obviously, but he did not approve.

That fact made Khan's back stiffen.

He watched Joaquin gather what belonged to him and Suzette, and then the large man left Khan again to his sit, still fueled by anger. And worry.

The search parties returned that night, and once again, there had been no sign of Marla. He let them splinter and eat, while he returned to his shuttle. With Joaquin and Suzette sent away, and no one else to speak to, he took his tricorder and opened it, recording the day's events. However, he made an important note.

"She has not been found. And she has not returned." He took a breath. "It causes me such wroth to know that she has simply left me, without word or writ or warning. And for what?" He paused. The words of Emily Bronte's Heathcliff came to his mind. "Marla… You loved me… What right, then, have you to leave me? What right?" He shut the tricorder, and yelled, "What right? Answer me!" He slammed a fist against the wall again, making another crack in the metal. Then he sat again, and held his head in his hands.

_She was a toy to you anyway. If you require a release at night, seek out Abigail. She hasn't conceived yet._

He did not want Abigail.

_Claudia was more than receptive of your attention. Find her and use her._

He did not want Claudia.

He prepared for sleep, and though it took much longer, without the presence or the physical and mental relief that came from sex, sleep did come to him.

_He stood on the long, open walkways that faced the magnificent gardens, the forest lush and bright surrounding the palace. The sun was setting, bathing his lands in a golden glow. His kingdom was a beautiful thing to behold. His people lived in peace, around him. His enemies feared him with every waking moment. _

_He could want for nothing, really. Along with the gleaming and pristine, white palace, he had innumerable riches. Money in banks around the globe and a small hoard of gems and jewelry he either wore himself or that he bestowed to those who gained his favor. He owned the best and fastest cars that every manufacturer could make (he was partial to his custom black Fiat). He dressed in fine silks and satins each day- today he wore a long, red sherwani coat, embroidered with golden thread, a satin white tunic shirt, and red churidars over his long legs, shining black boots on his feet, while his long, glistening black hair was protected by a white dastar turban. He had servants who answered to his every beck and call._

_And none of that included his women._

_Every night, the women came from far and wide. Superior women of impeccable breeding and the inferior ones who sought his protection and power, all dressed in their best, but ultimately all rather… boring. He might take one or two each night, but he would throw them away the next day. Especially when he had his wife._

_But his wife was also rather difficult to remain interested in, really. Oh yes, she was Superior in strength and intelligence, but she lacked further appeal. He saw her now, below, walking in the gardens, surrounded by the most lovely blooms and flora, and as he watched the veiled Queen, he saw only a well-made body that swelled at the belly with his offspring. He could not even see what color her hair was, actually. He didn't care, honestly._

_There was one who held his attention for longer than a night, though. He turned from the railing and went in to the palace proper, going deep in to the corridors, until he found the libraries. Countless books, written by the greatest Authors, and catalogues of all the nations throughout time were gathered in this unending room. But he did not want a book._

_He wanted the woman who tended to them._

_She was at the end of the Biographies. Works about the greatest leaders and men in all of history, and she was thumbing through one about the explorer Magellan. Her hair was loose along her shoulders. Soft auburn waves that reminded him of rubies bathed in red wine. Her petite, willowy frame was covered by a ghagra choli of soft blue, embroidered in silver thread and dotted with fine diamonds and crystals. Every move she made was caught in the fading daylight._

_He approached her. His steps sure, strong, but quiet. Yet she still lifted her head from her book, looking up at him._

_Oh, those eyes… Pure, clear amber. Her skin was like milk and honey, stirred together in a sinful mixture. The scent of vanilla flowers wafted from her. She must have taken a long bath today._

"_Did you need anything, My Lord?" she asked him._

"_No formalities, today," he told her as he took the book from her and set it back upon the shelf. He took her hand, and said, "Come."_

_She obeyed. She let him lead her to his rooms. Marble floors covered with massive rugs that told fables from long ago, silk curtains that fluttered in the evening breeze. He took her to his bed, and as she sat at the edge, he removed his dastar, then his coat. He pulled her up, lifting her arms, and guided them behind his neck. Then he dipped his head down for a kiss._

_While his lips savored the taste of her mouth, warm and moist and decadent as cream, he removed the dangling, diamond and silver earrings from her lobes. He nipped at her right ear once it was bare, then started to unfasten and loosen her clothing. He made it a ritual, taking the long dress off of her, until he had her fully, perfectly naked. He ran his hands along her sides, following small, well-crafted curves. _

"_In naked beauty more adorned," he whispered to her. "More lovely than Pandora."_

"_You make poetry sound obscene and beautiful at the same time," she replied as her own hands slid down and began to untie the front of his pants. She worshipped his body in gentle gliding touches of her fingers along his abdomen, along his hips. When his tunic was discarded she kissed his chest with reverence._

_He dropped down and pulled her on to his bed, in sheets of satin and soft pillows, and he took her apart. He used his mouth to be tender and guiding. He used his hands to tease and to drive her mad. Then when he was nestled deep inside of her, he led her to the height of passion until they were blinded by the power of their mutual release._

_The sky was silver with the early light of dawn. He rolled over in his bed, reaching for his beautiful lover, and he attempted to pull her close. He wanted to talk with her. Wanted to ask her about the book she had been reading before. Why Magellan? Was she in the mood for an adventurer? Exploration to unknown lands?_

_She pulled away from him, taking her honey-milk loveliness away from him. _

"_Where are you going?" he asked her, sitting up._

"_I have to take a bath, My Lord," she told him. "Then I have to return to the library. Isn't that what you always want?"_

_He paused. Yes, it was. Why did he want her to linger? In the day, he would seek out conversation, but in the evening, their interactions were not unlike last night's. He would find her, bed her, and then send her back to her job._

"_Perhaps I want something new," he told her._

"_Are you ordering me to stay?" she asked him. The expression on her face changed. From relaxed neutrality to… fear. _

_Why was she afraid?_

"_No," he told her._

_Relief came to her eyes._

"_Then, until next time, My Lord."_

_He watched her leave him, the doors shutting with a snap behind her. But after a few minutes, he realized that he did not want her to go. He jumped from his bed, grabbed his coat, and called out to her._

"_Marla! Marla, come back! I order it! Return!" He stepped out. In the halls, countless people- servants, guards, citizens and guests seeking his attention- filled the palace. He couldn't see her. Could not find her or pinpoint her out of the endless throng._

"_MARLA!"_

* * *

Morning came with heavy thoughts.

Foremost in his mind were the concerns that the rains brought. They had come early that morning, in a great fury. Endless torrents of water fell from heaven while the sky, black from the clouds, blocking the sun and their sister-planet entirely. The only light given was the lightening that wracked the ground as if Zeus himself had hurled each bolt down.

They had taken immediately to the shuttles once the intensity of the storms had been made clear.

His concerns were not only focused on the storm, of course.

Marla was still out there. She was out in that wilderness, and her life was possibly in danger. How could she hunt for food if she were hiding from the monsoon? How could she survive without fire? Had she taken these things in to consideration at all?

_Of course she had. She is not a fool; for all that she lets her emotions drive her._

And thoughts of Marla brought to his attention his dream.

He was not a man who put stock in to dreams, normally, but last night's visions had been rather unsettling. He had been given what he wanted- the opulence and grandeur of his former status as a prince. He had a wife to give him children, and subjects who followed him and Marla as his courtesan who would follow him willingly and easily to his bed whenever he wished.

But it had not been as satisfying as he had thought. She was still Marla, and still quite intriguing to him, and no less desirable. But something about her seemed more resigned. The ferocity and the inner heat of her spirit were missing.

He did not want a Marla without that spirit.

Perhaps he had reached for too much, then. He did want heirs-

_You _need _them._

But was having a long lasting bloodline worth losing that fierce little thing with her brilliant mind and her un-guarded honesty?

_Until the monsoon ends, you may not ever know._

He went to sleep that evening, no less confused, and hating the silence in the shuttle's cabin.

_He rose up in the lift, taking him away from the underground facility deep beneath the city of London. He brushed at the sleeve of his red and black uniform, looked at the hat in his hands. Such an unrefined design._

_For a futuristic paradise, there was still so much was left to be desired._

_He felt like a slave, honestly. Every day, he had to come to this building- an archive, no more than an elaborate library, and move to the classified, secret base below to design and create weapons for Starfleet. _

_They were elegant things, and all deadly and powerful. But he would not be the one to use them. _He_ would not be the one to unleash their power upon his enemies. These things he made, with his genetically enhanced mind and his natural savagery, were to be used for Admiral Marcus's personal war against the Klingon Empire. The people of this placid and unimaginative, overly civilized age were unable to make the necessary tools for such a feat. Only someone like Khan could do it._

_But he could not make them as 'Khan Noonien Singh'. No. He had been stripped of his titles, his proper name. They had even chopped his glorious hair from his head. They had taken his identity from him and given him one that was bland and mundane and utterly unnoticeable._

_He felt violated. Degraded. Humiliated._

_He wanted to bathe in the blood of these inferior creatures._

_Not all of them, of course._

_There was one last thing that brought him a modicum of pleasure. Before he left the building, today, he would have another chance to see the thing that, in this miserable existence he had been handed, gave him some joy._

_In the archives themselves, hidden among shelves of disks and overseeing cases that shielded precious, fragile books from centuries ago, he had found her. Months ago, she had arrived, dressed in red, though they had changed her uniform to blue to fit the new designation of her field. Two stars on her shoulders (Lieutenant), short red-brown hair (perhaps once she had been auburn. She could be again with more time in the sun), an air of innocence mingled with something more. Something that flicked across her eyes whenever she looked at the glowing screen of her PADD._

_Something that looked like spirit._

_He had begun to watch her closely. Whenever he was released, if she were still in the building, he would find her. Watch her, and then leave before she realized he was there._

_Today, however, he meant to change his plans. After all, he had stalked his prey long enough._

_Time to lay claim._

_He walked toward her with confident strides, his head up high, and his eyes focused on the back of the young woman's head. When he was just behind her, he leaned down to look at what she was reading today._

"_Come seeking knowledge on the pioneers of Space Travel, Lieutenant?" he asked her._

_She yelped and her PADD slipped from her hand._

_His hand shot out with sure and quick movements, catching it easily. Then he handed it back to her._

"_Forgive me," he said. "I did not mean to startle you."_

"_Oh," the woman replied, shaking her head. "No! No, I'm just… I wasn't expecting anyone…"_

_He raised his hand. "All the same, it was rude of me not to announce myself." He extended his hand to her. "Commander John Harrison," he said. The name still threatened to make bile rise, but he managed to cover up his disdain for his cover with a smile._

"_Lieutenant Marla McGivers, Sir," she replied as she took his hand, and shook it._

"_A pleasure," he purred to her. He saw her shoulders move slightly. A shiver. Ah, it was a lovely sight._

_She ducked her head down. "Sir, um… Is there something you wanted?" She sounded so modest. Shy little woman. He would enjoy his time with her, surely._

"_Yes, actually," he said, putting on the air of commanding officer wishing to have a word with his subordinate. "I wondered, Lieutenant if you would accompany me to dinner tonight." He felt so amused by this little dance; he could not suppress his smirk fully._

_She replied with a soft laugh, and looked around them._

"_Sir," she said, "I don't… I don't even know you, Commander."_

"_I believe that is the point of my asking, Lieutenant. I wish to know you better, therefore I would like to take you to dinner. Unless, of course, you take no pleasure in my company…?" He knew she would accept. _

_She did._

_He took her to dinner, and they conversed. The full details were muddled, but he knew that she told him about her youth in America, and her training to be a historian. Her thesis on the psychology behind the great leaders. Her favorite plays. He gave her the lie for his cover (upper crust family, living in Dubai, but transferred to England and how he now was an Engineer doing research on the early space-ships). But then he shared his own interests in novels. His favorite leaders in history._

"_I must say," he told her over glasses of wine (red? He couldn't see the liquid in the goblets clearly), "There was one thing I was not told the London Archive would have among its wealth of knowledge."_

"_What's that?" she asked._

"_Beautiful women." He smirked as she flushed from the compliment._

_When they left the restaurant, he suggested returning to his apartment complex._

_She insisted on her own._

_He walked through the doors and found a studio-loft. It fit her, really. A large window that overlooked the city of London. A world that gleamed with glass and metal and lights, with a few stone buildings from centuries past still dotting the land below. What drew his attention though were the paintings. _

_Watercolor paintings hanging up along the walls. The style marked them as belonging to a single artist, but their subjects were the most astounding. Some of the most powerful men of all time- Richard, Leif Ericson, Alexander the Great, Roman gladiators._

"_Very strong and great men," he observed as Marla tossed her hat on to a coffee table._

"_Great men, but not by a great painter," she replied._

"_I think you have quite a talent," he told her. He walked up behind her, placing his hands on her hips. "However, I think you should consider, my dear, that, such men… When they see something that they desire…. Will take what they want."_

_She rose when his fingers made contact, and she held still when he spoke. She turned around, and his arms circled around her waist. He pressed his palms against the small of her back. Her eyes, when he made contact with them, were heavy-lidded. She seemed hesitant, but not for lack of desire. He could see it- feel it- running through her. He dropped his head and whispered in her ear._

"_Gentle, soft dream, nestling in my arms now," he breathed against her. "You will fly, too, as your sisters have all fled before you… But kiss me before you go." He pulled back, and tilted his head just so. Nudged his lips barely against hers. "Embrace me, Marla."_

_She was his. She yielded to his kiss readily, and he took her to the bed, set up on a platform by the window. He peeled her uniform from her body, and kissed every inch of bare skin. She returned his attentions by kissing at his pale skin with her soft lips. He gripped her hips, soft and full and hiding muscle underneath that had not been sculpted in a long while, and he opened her thighs. He tasted her wherever he could place his mouth, his tongue, and made her cry out. She then took his fingers or his tongue in to her mouth and suckled against them. He made her mewl and writhe with his hands. _

_When he was finally in her, finally driving himself deep in to her, he looked in to her face. Such a trusting woman, a vulnerable, darling thing. He wanted to break her apart and reshape her in to something more. He wanted to take the fire he saw in her amber eyes, this smoldering that was glowing now in their passion as she looked up at him, and see it fully blazing._

"_Marla," he groaned. "You consume me!"_

_She cried out, her hands grabbing his upper bicep. As his own release broke him apart, he thought he heard her whimper._

_"_Khan_…"_

_When he awoke (had he slept?) she was not in bed. He looked around, frantic, but she sat nearby, an easel set up and paints at the ready, watching him. She wore a naught but a smock. He tilted his head, observing her._

"_Would you like to see?" she asked. He stood up, and then he crossed to her. Looked at the canvas. _

_It was him._

_Not John Harrison, Starfleet Commander and Engineer. It was Khan Singh, the Prince of the Eastern Kingdoms. A red sherwani over him, dastar tucked under his arm, hair tied back and long, flowing in an unseen wind. _

"_You know who I am," he said. _

"_I knew the moment I met you," Marla told him. "What kind of historian would I be if I didn't recognize _you_?"_

"_And yet you slept with me, anyway."_

"_Yes." She smiled._

"_Why?" he asked._

_She looked up at him, and with complete sincerity, she said, "Because I trust you. And, I love you."_

_He looked down at her, and felt something he had never thought he would ever experience. He felt a need to take this woman, and keep her with him. Tuck her away, somewhere, and never let her out of his sight or reach. It wasn't simply the desire to possess. It was a need for her, for all of her, to preserve her. To never let go._

_He reached for her, to draw her out of her chair and take her back to her bed._

He woke, reaching out and finding nothing but the cold, empty space of the shuttle cabin.

The weight of his dream sat in his mind, and refused to be dislodged.

The emotions that his dream had stirred up also would not be shaken.

The Marla in that dream had not been the Marla he had grown accustomed to, but the one he had met in the shuttle in the middle of the jungle. But the look in the eyes of the woman in his dream was the same one she had given him when he had held her fragile little neck in his hands. When, without fear, she had stared at him. That fire. That spirit, just underneath untrained and unrefined will. That was what had made him spare her life. Not her knowledge. Not the need to keep her on hand.

And it was that spirit, that inner strength deep in her that had been hewn and reshaped and brought to its brightest potential that he missed. More than her body, more than her mind.

But with those three things together, he knew he had something astounding. All of those things together…

_I love her._

It was the only thing that could explain these dreams and his worry. His obsession, his desire, his possessive need for her. The only proper conclusion. He loved her. He loved her, and he missed her.

And she was out there, in the storm.

_She might be dead already._

"What have I done?" he asked himself. He clenched his fist. "Why did I betray my heart?" he exclaimed. "I deserve this! I have killed myself!" He rose from the seats. "Nothing God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, but of my own choosing, I did it!" He shut his eyes. "You have not broken my heart, dear Marla, I have broken it… And in breaking it, I broke yours… So much the worse for me that I am strong. Do I want to live like this?" he asked the silence around him. "What kind of living will it be when… Oh, gods, would you like to live your soul in the grave?" He dropped to his knees. "I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer, but yours… How can I?"

He sat in the shuttle, with a new rage burning in his heart. Hatred towards, not an enemy, or a monster, or even another's actions, but his own foolishness that he could not fathom. An anger that he could not ease or release.

* * *

AN: I hope the wait for these two chapters was worth it folks! I work again tomorrow and have no day off until Wednesday, so it may be a while yet before I can write again. Please, have patience. I will have more of this story coming. I will see this tale through to the end.


	22. Chapter 22

AN: Sorry once again for the long wait, my dear readers! Hopefully today's chapter will make up for it. My next day off this time will be sooner: Saturday! So be patient. After all, it's not the destination. It's the journey!

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

After those initial six days, Marla had had to stop her exploration of the caves, but she was certain that the tunnels went on nigh indefinitely. The sheer number of tunnels was staggering, and she wanted to see where each one went! She was curious about other possible openings that would lead in to this place, but if she spent all of her precious kindling on exploration, how would she be able to make a fire for cooking and light?

As it was, after ten days (though the exact time was a guess, as the hours had begun to run together for her), she noted the horrible depletion of her rations. Even being careful with each piece and eating very little because of her stomach-condition (whatever it was) and her inability to hunt in the storm, she was still hit with the very obvious problem. She was going to run out. And unless she came across something in the caves, she wouldn't survive.

_The human body can survive up to three weeks on just water, without food._

But this storm system would last longer than three weeks. And Marla knew it.

Not for the first time, she asked herself, _God, what am I doing here?_

The intensity of the winds and the rain, the thick, black clouds above spelled out everything. This wasn't just tropical rains. This was a full blown monsoon, and those could for several months back on Earth in certain locations. When would _this_ storm end, here on this alien planet? As she thought about it, many things became great concerns for her. Not just her own survival, but that of the colony's. Even with the trenches dug around perimeter, the water will gather, if it hasn't already. The flood-waters could rise, and even with the shuttles' being safe against water, the possibility of damage from the winds could still spell disaster. What if one tipped? What if they ran out of their own rations in the duration? Would they risk someone going out in the storm to get meat and food from the storage hut? What if the hut's sod materials couldn't handle such heavy rainfall, after all?

What if, even with all their careful preparations, something went wrong?

She bit her bottom lip. She had to decide.

_God, why am I here?_

Twelve days after had she left New Chandigarh, she repacked her few meager belongings, and made to leave her shelter.

She took precaution for the weather with the few things available to her. She wrapped one of her blankets around her, covering her head and upper body. She made sure to mark with a stone where the opening to this cave was.

_Maybe someday I can come back. Maybe with Liam. He would love to explore this place._

As she stepped out in to the rain, she did spare a worry for Khan. She knew he would be angry with her. She knew that he may do worse than bruise her arm or toss her down for her actions. She knew that he would be less 'forgiving' of her this time, and though she was afraid, she couldn't let her fear rule her.

_He can do his worst to me. I won't let the colony fail. I _can't_ let it fail. _

_Why am I here? Because I _chose_ this… I don't regret my choice._

Pressing close to the mountain's side, she fought against the gale.

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

Solitude was no stranger to Khan. He had spent a year, essentially, alone, with no one whom he cared for at his side. He could survive without contact, if necessary. He had survived on Qo'noS, after all, at the edge of the Klingon Empire. If he could live in a forgotten, war-ravaged, abandoned city for months, then to be alone during the storm, with contact to his people via tricorder still available, should be nothing.

_You did not love before._

He should not have been so concerned. Even loving Marla, knowing what the true depths of his emotions were, now, he could not let himself be so obsessed with that woman that he forgot about the necessities of his own people. She had chosen her fate-

_You drove her out._

-She was not a fool! She would know what to do if she needed food. She knew how to hunt. How to fight. She had taken the sling and knife he made for her-

_You think that means anything after what you have done?_

-She was more capable than even he had given her credit for. This woman who had run through a burning ship to carry out her last duty to her Captain. This woman who had followed his people out of compassion… Who had given herself entirely to him, without truly knowing him. Marla was extraordinary. She could survive this storm.

_Unless she is dead already from the flooding, or the beasts._

He snarled at his own fears, and stood up. He paced. He needed to keep his mind occupied. He had more immediate concerns. He had heard the winds from the outside, and saw how hard the rains beat upon their shelters and the ground. Their initial judgment of the weather was proving to be horribly askew, and he knew that it would only be a matter of time before their trenches overflowed and no longer gave them protection.

_The escape shuttles can float. That is no matter._

They could float, yes, but what else? Could they withstand the force of winds? What if they carried the rocks from the mountains? What if the force of the storm reached hurricane-level intensity? This planet was unpredictable in so many ways.

_We will face it. We must. We must survive_

Several hours passed by, and he kept the worst of his worries at bay, though only just. Silence surrounded him, and steadily filled his mind as he allowed his mind to go in to a semi-meditative state. A technique to help clear his head of anything that would jeopardize him. In the past it had helped to ensure his full concentration of missions or battle plans.

The internal, and external, quiet was shattered by the sound of his tricorder. An in-coming message from one of the other groups.

"MY LORD!" shouted a male voice from the tiny device. "MY LORD! HELP US!"

Khan's hand snapped out and he opened the tricorder. He was on his feet instantly.

"Rodriguez? What's happened?" he demanded.

"The shuttle!" the man replied, panic and terror in his voice, echoed by the sounds of his fellow occupants as they screamed in the background. "The shuttle is_** sinking**_!"

What? Sinking?

"Are you certain?" Khan asked him, though he still went to the door to his own shuttle. These vessels were supposed to withstand water-landings.

"The mud!" Rodriguez replied. "We're sinking in to the mud!"

"Stay where you are!" Khan ordered. "I'm coming!" He charged out in to the rain and winds, and then opened up communication and ordered to all the others who carried tricorders.

"All available men and women come at once- Shuttle Nine is sinking! I repeat: Shuttle Nine is _sinking_!" He snapped the tricorder shut, running and sloshing through the sodden camp as he headed eastward to the shuttle. Within moments he was joined by Gideon, Liam, Zuleika, and even Joaquin. They hurried to the Eastern side of the camp, still not certain what they would find.

The ground appeared as black as the sky above them. The mud was thick, and looked solid, but the shuttle was indeed sinking in to the thick, black mud. They had no idea how far around the more solid ground extended, but they needed to find a way to the shuttle.

"Joaquin, Gideon, circle around," Khan ordered, "Find stable ground! We need rope," he told the other two.

"Already covered!" Zuleika offered, handing him a coil of rope. Pavarti's rope.

"Good, come!" he ordered Liam and Zuleika. He took one end, and said, "Hold the rope. I will open the door, draw them out, and you will pull them to safety."

"My Lord, what if the shuttle sinks further down?" Liam protested. "This could be a sink-hole! You don't know how far it'll go!"

"That doesn't matter!" Khan shouted at the scientist. "What matters are the five people in that shuttle and I will let none of them die!" He wrapped the rope's end tightly around his hand, then ran, used his right foot for a springboard and jumped.

He landed on the half-tilted shuttle's side, and crawled along it to the door. He grabbed the handle and pulled, nearly buckling the metal as he opened it.

"My Lord!" shouted Rodriguez, looking up at Khan, relief in his tanned face at seeing their Leader. Khan reached a hand in.

"Amy and Jacqueline first," he told Rodriguez. The man nodded and helped the two pregnant women to the opening. He lifted Amy up to Khan's waiting hands, and the Augment Leader pulled the blonde woman up from the sinking vessel. He tied the rope to her upper chest.

"Hold on," he told her before he signaled to Zuleika and Liam. Amy jumped as far as she could, landed partially in the thick mud, and they pulled her the rest of the way to safety. The process was repeated with Jacqueline, who managed to land closer to solid ground.

As he turned to reach for a young man named Caleb (barely even twenty years old when he had followed Khan in to exile), the rain's constant beating and the crash of thunder was joined by the loud groaning of metal. The men inside the shuttle braced themselves, and Khan held on to the door as the shuttle lurched, then sank further in to the tar-black mud.

"My Lord," shouted Daniel, Amy's brother and the partner to Jacqueline, "Save yourself!"

"No!" he countered, and reached in for Caleb's hand. "No one dies today!"

He was only just aware of shouting behind him. But he could not ignore the sudden blur of motion or the thud of a body landing on the shuttle's side. He looked up.

_No._

_She left._

_She cannot be _here.

_She _is_ here._

_She came back._

Marla climbed up to join him at the open door. She was gasping, wrapped in a blanket, which was soaked through, and he could see her Starfleet uniform peeking from the open fabric. She reached inside of the shuttle.

"Give me your hand!" she called inside. Caleb reached and grabbed her arm. Khan snapped himself back to attention and he latched on to Caleb's left upper-bicep and together they pulled the young Augment up. The rope was flung to them, and they tied Caleb securely to the tether, and sent him to join the women and other rescuers.

With Marla's assistance, they were able to move quickly. They pulled out Daniel, next, then Javier, sending both men to safety and their partners.

That left only themselves.

Zuleika flung the rope and Khan caught it effortlessly. But beneath them, the shuttle groaned again, and Marla nearly fell backward as the vessel was pulled in further. Khan grabbed her, pulled her close.

"Hold on to me!" he ordered her. She was already shivering, but she obeyed. Marla's arms wrapped around his neck, while he tied the rope around their waists. He held on to her with one arm, and then leapt from the shuttle, landing just a few short feet from solid ground. The mud oozed up around them, but he held on to the rope.

"Don't let go of me," he urged the woman in his arm. Her grip tightened. Zuleika and Liam were joined by Joaquin, Gideon, and Javier, who pulled the two together up to safe and solid ground.

By the time they had climbed from the mire, only the door, flung open, appeared over the hole that was swallowing up the shuttle.

Gideon approached each rescued member of the shuttle, asking them if they were all right, and making sure the pregnant women had not been injured during the endeavor.

Khan, however, had his attention fully on Marla.

She was still shivering, but she was smiling. She had helped him save lives, risking her own in the process.

_She came back._

Khan had always known what words to say in any situation. What phrase or prose could fit best. But this time he had nothing. Why had she come back? She had left because of his decision to take a Queen from his people. And yet, she was here. Why? _**Why**_?

_Does it matter?_

He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Marla winced. She doubled over, clutching her stomach.

"Oh God, not again," she whimpered.

"Marla?" he asked, both arms around her. "What is it? Tell me!"

"I- I don't," she started, but then she retched. Her legs gave out, but before she could fall, he swept an arm under her knees and he picked her up. Gideon swung around and went up to her.

"What happened?" Gideon asked. Khan merely shook his head. He had no idea what had happened to her. "Let's get her to the hospital," Gideon said.

"No!" Khan countered, turning. "My shuttle. Examine her there."

"But, My Lord," Gideon argued.

"Do as I command!" he shouted at the doctor. "Follow me to my shuttle- Joaquin, Zuleika, take the others, get them to shelter," he told the rest before he made his way back to his own vessel.

Marla had returned to him. After days of worry over her safety and fears that she might have died, she had returned, alive, though he suspected this fainting fit had been her self-imposed exile taking its toll. He would make sure that she was treated, and then he would not allow her out of his sight again.

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

She didn't register much at first, except that wherever she was, she was dry. And warm. A part of her didn't want to wake up, because it felt so nice, being warm and dry and on top of something that was much softer than the rock-floor of the cave. But the fact that she was on something softer than stone was what made her ultimately open her eyes.

The shuttle looked as if a bull had been locked inside of it and kicked, gouged, and beat at every surface inside before being released again. Khan sat directly across from her, with his hands steepled in front of his plump mouth. He was staring at her with his ice-colored eyes.

And it all came back to her.

When she had gotten to the edge of camp, she had seen the gathering of people. Saw that Khan was on top of a shuttle that was slowly disappearing in to a muddy sink-hole, and she hadn't even second guessed her choice when she ran up to Joaquin, and demanded that the large, bewildered Augment throw her up to the shuttle to help get out anyone trapped inside.

Then after narrowly escaping being sucked in to the mud, too, she had felt that body-wracking nausea and fainted.

Slowly, she sat up, turning her eyes away. The blanket that had been draped on her slipped down slightly.

"How long was I asleep?" she murmured quietly.

"…Nearly three hours," Khan answered, his voice just as soft and hushed.

"Okay," she replied. God, what happened now? Would he start yelling? Would he hit her? Berate her for leaving the camp? She hated the feeling of waiting for the inevitable. It almost made her queasy again. "How… how is everyone? Are they safe?" she asked him.

"All safe," he told her.

"Good," she said.

She wished he'd look away. She felt as if his eyes were going right in to her insides, to her soul. It was unnerving. It made her skin prickle.

_You missed it, didn't you?_

She swallowed, and fidgeted her fingers. He broke the silence.

"Gideon examined you after you fainted," Khan explained to her. "Slight malnutrition, he said…"

"Okay, that makes sense," Marla said. She couldn't hold anything down, so malnutrition was a given.

"Due to morning sickness…"

_What? But that was impossible!_

She turned her head and looked at him, her amber eyes widening. _That can't be._

"You are twenty eight days in to your pregnancy," Khan told her. "You were likely unaware, and would not have noticed until you missed your menstrual cycle in a few days."

She thought back. Counted. It couldn't be.

"But… That means… I was barely-"

"Many women experience different symptoms earlier or later than typical. Some can be unaware that they are pregnant at all, for a time, due to infrequent cycles," Khan said. "That was what Gideon explained to me." He stood up, looming over her. She felt exceptionally vulnerable.

"Marla," he said, "You are carrying my child."

She clutched at the blanket wrapped around her, and she felt her heart constrict in her chest. Her blood went cold.

"But… But it was recorded that Augment-human cross-breeding was a failure," she said. This just couldn't be!

"Well documented lies," he said to her. "I personally observed many successful inseminations in to human surrogates, and the most successful cross-breeding was done artificially. Natural crossing had a higher failure rate, therefore it was deemed 'difficult'. But it was not impossible."

She curled her legs up, drawing her knees to her chest. "What was the success rate?" she asked him.

"Point 00001 percent. The majority of the attempts resulted in miscarriage, the death of the fetus, or the abortion of the pregnancy."

She shuddered hard through her back and shoulders. "A-are you going to make me kill it?" she said, her voice hitching in her throat.

"What?" he asked.

"The baby." She looked up at him. She felt the sting of tears and her chest hurt more. "Are you going to make me kill it because I'm inferior?" she asked him. She couldn't explain but knowing that she had a child- another life- inside of her, she couldn't let it be taken away. Not when half of it was made from her.

His eyes narrowed, "Why would I wish for the death of my own child?" he asked her, in turn.

"Because I'm-"

He cut her off, "You are _astonishing_. You left assured safety and comfort out of pride, survived for twelve days in the wilderness, then returned, in the middle of a monsoon, and saved the lives of three men, without reason, at the risk of your own life, and all while carrying my child inside of you..."

She bit on her bottom lip, eyes going down again.

"Why did you come back?" he asked her.

She took a breath, and then lifted her head up. This time she wouldn't hide from his gaze. She returned his stare with her own.

"For the colony," she told him. "Because I helped make this place. I brought your people here, and I worked hard to make this settlement a success. I'm not going to abandon it now, when it's just barely started."

Slowly, Khan's lips twitched. The corners curved up, and soon he was smiling down at her.

"My Marla," he purred. His voice was warm, and dark as smoke, and it caused old, well-trained synapses to go off in her head and in her body. A string that went right to her lower belly was pulled tight as he moved closer, bending low. His right hand cupped her chin, while the left took a gentle, but firm, hold of her arm, and he knelt before her, on bended-knee.

"My dear, lovely Marla, you never cease to surprise and please me," he whispered to her as his mouth sought hers, pressing against her lips.

Oh, God, she hadn't realized just how badly she had missed this until she felt it again. The touch of his lips, the sensation of his hands on her-

_Are you going to be that stupid again?_

_He's just going to keep using you until he's bored. He only wants you for the baby._

Marla grabbed his shoulders, and pulled herself away from Khan, turning her head away to break the kiss. She moved down the rows of seats.

"No," she said.

"No?" he asked, confused. "…Marla-"

"I said 'no'!" she snapped. She looked at the man, feeling the anger that had driven her from the colony rising again. "You said you wanted a Queen to give you 'superior children', and I'm just a 'courtesan' to you. I won't settle for that, Khan- I'm not a slut! Not for anyone, not even for you!"

"I never called you such a thing!" he objected.

"Yes, you did. Having me for a mistress is no better than just making me your whore and I won't be treated that way." She wasn't going to let him use her any way he wanted anymore. She didn't care if she had to tear her own heart out of chest. She would not be demeaned that way. She deserved better, and she knew it.

He stood up again, and asked her, "What, then, shall you be, Marla? To me, and the rest of my people?"

She swallowed, then said, "…I'll carry our baby… And I'll continue to help you ensure the survival of your people, and the success of the settlement."

"But you will not be my lover," he said.

She shut her eyes, and shook her head. "No."

He went quiet for about a minute. "If that is what you wish… I will not force you. You will choose what you want."

That actually surprised her. She had expected him to rage and rail and shout at her, but he seemed subdued... Was that a good thing or not? She lifted her head up, though, and watched him sit back down. Across from her, at the other end of the shuttle's cabin.

"And I will honor the child you bear for me," he added as he leaned back against the dented wall.

She let that all set on her, and she nodded in agreement. "Thank you…Sir."

His eyes flicked across her briefly, and he asked, "Where did you go when you left?"

Ah, now he was going to ask. She sighed quietly. Well, she did need to explain, didn't she?

"There was a cave. A few hours away, in the mountains. It had a lot of tunnels inside of it, and the entrance was hidden by the natural formations in the rocks. It was … well, it was absolutely fascinating and lovely, what I saw of it." She thought about it. "I think maybe one of the tunnels might have been underneath the shuttle that sank."

He leaned forward, again, elbows resting on his thighs while his hands came together once more. His pale eyes alight with curiosity.

"Explain."

* * *

AN: Hope you guys like this chapter! I know that the wait was long, but patience is always rewarded! Review, give feed-back, point out anything I missed, and I'll have another chapter up (hopefully) Saturday!


	23. Chapter 23

True to his word, Khan didn't touch her. He didn't force himself on her, or show any sort of anger with her for leaving. Even when she had expected him to eventually blow up and hit her, or yell at her, he hadn't. Instead, through the first few days after her return, he was quiet. Polite. Quite cordial, really.

It made her almost wish he _would_ snap.

She wasn't a person who enjoyed being mistreated in the least, make no mistake on that. But she was just as worried about this lack of anger as she would have been if he had been furious from the start and stayed that way. It just didn't make any sense to her.

Eventually, though, as they waited through the storm outside, she grew less nervous and worried about experiencing any fall-out. The atmosphere was by no means relaxed between them, but at least she wasn't expecting him to suddenly lash out at her.

No one left their shuttles again until the monsoon finally began to dissipate, and even then, it was only Gideon, going to each dwelling to check on everyone's health. When he came to Marla and Khan's shuttle, he brought with him extra rations and examined Marla as fully as he could.

"Any cramping? I don't see any visible bloating," the doctor said while running the tricorder over her, paying close attention to her stomach. He checked her pulse with his fingers. "Tenderness in the stomach or breasts?"

"A little tender… And the cramps," Marla answered him. They were getting worse, and she really was beginning to hate the sensation, even though she didn't hate the cause of it.

"I see," Gideon said, taking the device in his hands and closing it. "Changes in mood? Has the morning sickness left?"

She glanced at Khan, who didn't seem to be paying any attention to the clinical procedures, but something about how rigid his posture appeared gave away that he was more than aware of the conversation.

"I'm…slightly irritable," she answered. There were no objections from Khan, though she was sure that her unwillingness to let him touch her might have made him believe otherwise. "But the sickness is gone now."

"Right," Gideon said.

"And," Marla sighed, "I'm dying for anything sweet. I just… Anything that's absolutely drowned in sugar." She covered her face. She couldn't believe that her body was craving so many things she hadn't even really cared to think about since landing on this planet, and yet every day she was wishing she was able to get to a kitchen and pour maple syrup in to a bowl of frosted cereal.

_That should be disgusting, but it's just making me want it like crazy!_

"I'm afraid all we can do for that is the dehydrated fruit and the remaining Comp Berries. And according to that little gadget, everything seems to be progressing just fine. I only wish I had a proper ultra-sound machine to make sure, but, so far so good." the doctor said, smiling a touch. His amusement left him, however, as he moved on to a more serious subject in regard to their situation.

"Now, Marla, I'm sure that our Lord has explained some things about this sort of… phenomenon, right?" Gideon asked.

"A little," she confirmed. "He said it wasn't impossible, just very difficult without going through artificial means."

"And he's right, it is. Almost every attempt that was done in the past through 'natural' insemination resulted in the premature end of the pregnancy, and of the few successful births that occurred, only a very small percentage came through without any form of defect. Most either had under-developed bodies, or suffered from mental illness."

That worried her. She knew she could and would love and protect her child, no matter what, but no one wants to be told that their baby will most certainly be born with a defect. She placed her hands on her stomach, and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just take care of your body, and listen to its needs and urges, I assure you, that is the best thing to do," Gideon told her. "With regular check-ins, then all should go well enough… But, there is one more concern." He looked over at Khan briefly, and then said to her, "If everything goes well, and if- _if_- the fetus makes it through to full-term, then, I can't guarantee your own survival through the birthing process. If you attempt a natural birth, it could very well kill you… And, if you survived, and you ever attempted another pregnancy, the risks and possible detriments that normally come with cross-breeding will be even higher."

Marla closed her eyes. "So… you're saying that… I may need a C-section?"

"Yes."

"And," she opened her eyes again. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a heavy, crushing feeling of sorrow. "I won't…be able to have any more children?"

"I'm afraid not," Gideon said, sounding remorseful.

She nodded, but tears escaped, and she wiped at her eyes. "Okay," her voice squeaked out.

After a moment, Gideon touched her shoulder. "I'm sure that the baby will be fine," he assured her. "Just come see me as quickly as possible if anything feels wrong. Understand?"

She nodded again and the doctor left, dismissed by Khan, who thanked him for coming. Marla turned her back to the door and to the only man left with her, and she tried to keep herself from crying, but failed.

She covered her face with both of her hands and sobbed in to her palms.

Footsteps made their way up behind her. She could almost feel Khan behind her (she could certainly smell him, though she hadn't told Gideon that she now had a nose that could out-sniff a bloodhound), and he placed a hand on the center of her upper vertebrae.

"Our child will be strong," his dark, smoky voice said to her. "And he will be more than enough." He took his hand away, and let her be.

That was the first time he had touched her since she'd rejected his kiss.

It made her shudder and sob louder. On top of everything else, she missed his touch. She missed being held at night, and missed that voice whispering in her ear. But she wouldn't give in to those wants.

_It won't mean anything if he doesn't love me._

* * *

The monsoon lasted nearly two months, entirely, before the rains broke up. The first dry day, Khan left the shuttle to find Liam. On the second day, the scientist came to talk to Marla about the tunnels. She told him everything that she had told Khan, but she also mentioned her theory that the silvery-veins in the walls were likely the substances that had blocked their shuttles' tracking systems. She also gave the suggestion that the sink-hole might be one of the many tunnels she hadn't had a chance to explore.

"This is fascinating," Liam said. "A series of underground tunnels, right under our feet! There are so many possibilities!"

"Like what? For storage or shelter from weather?"

"Precisely!" Liam exclaimed. "With enough forewarning, in the future, we could all migrate to the tunnels and wait there until storms and other natural threats pass by. Think of the lives that could save!"

"Not until you have explored every cave," Khan interjected from his side of the cabin.

"Or until we can re-enforce some of the tunnels," Marla added. "It won't help or save anyone if their hiding place suddenly becomes a mud-pit and kills them."

"Too right, Marla," Liam agreed, "Naturally, My Lord. Both measures need to be done." He smiled, lip corners nearly going ear to ear. "I can't wait to look in them."

"You will need to," Khan told him, "The flood waters are still too high."

It was true. When Marla had had a chance to go outside, she had seen that, even with their trenches, the water at the well of the valley made travel difficult. Even with the make-shift rafts they'd made for river-travel, they couldn't afford to leave the settlement yet.

"And that's just torture," Liam complained, "I have to see how far and deep they go! Think of the possible minerals and natural metals we could find! We could develop a Mining Facility in the mountains because of this!"

Unfortunately, they would not be able to plan these things yet. Liam left, and much of the camp was surrounded by a lull in activity, save the continued making of fishing nets. During that time, it gave Marla far too much time to think. Too many minutes each day to think about the baby growing inside of her, or the father of said baby.

And she did think even more about Khan. It was hard not to, when he kept her either in the shuttle or within line-of-sight all the time, as her pregnancy progressed. She wasn't given any arduous tasks, when she wasn't going through the less 'heartwarming' hormonal changes, and at meal times, Khan made it a priority that Marla, and the other pregnant women in the camp, were not only fed first but given the best of their food.

His concern for her welfare, and his constant civility in actions made her miss, even more, the stolen glances and occasional touches they once exchanged. At night, when she lay down to sleep, she turned her back to him to avoid staring at him all night. The urges and desires were even worse than when she had first returned! All she wanted to do, more than anything, in those few minutes before sleep, was either invite him over to hold her, or crawl up beside him and wrap her arms around him.

But she couldn't. He'd made it clear what she was to him, and she wasn't going to change her mind on her decision.

The skies had been cloudy, but not a drop of rain had fallen in four days. And for once, Marla felt well enough to leave the shuttle and find out about Suzette. She was delighted that her friend was pregnant, as well, and the women took up a new form of 'athletics'. After all, Marla didn't want to let the muscles she had developed to grow lethargic.

"Meditation and stretching can help keep your body going, without as much stress," Suzette told her. "The positions and movements I'll show you might not work later down, but bear with me on this… It wasn't essential to my training to learn how to stay in top shape while your stomach grows as big as a basketball."

"You're the best person to ask, all the same." Marla said to her as they sat and started with slow breathing.

"Just let your mind ease itself down," Suzette said, her voice soft and calm. "And breathe in… then out…"

Marla closed her eyes and followed her teacher by example. Soon she was beginning to feel quite relaxed. All the things that had been cluttering her mind were slowly being emptied.

The growing calm around her was shattered by loud, shrill screams and wailing voices.

Her eyes snapped open and she and Suzette went off toward the sounds. Naturally Khan was already there, and pulling people away from the sloping edge that went down to the water below. They saw indentions in the still rain-soft ground where something large, with clawed feet, had climbed up, and long, dragging marks that looked as if a mass had slid up and down again.

"What was it?" Khan asked the various men and women, all still shaken and looking horrified. "What happened!?"

A man answered, "It- it looked like a humongous crocodile!"

"It took Geoffrey, my Lord!" wailed a woman. "It just grabbed him and pulled him down… Oh God, he was still moving in its mouth!"

Marla looked toward the waters and tried to think. Crocodiles on earth were among the nearest relatives to the ancient dinosaurs. With the sizes and early-development of the animals here…

"Khan," she said but he was striding away, back stiff and focus entirely elsewhere. He grabbed different men and a few women. He was already ordering them to gather weapons. She ran after him.

"Khan, STOP!" she yelled, grabbing his arm, and yanking at him. "You can't go after it!"

"It attacked my people. It stole one of our own, and I will not let it live to prey upon us again," he said, ignoring her as she pulled at him.

She tugged harder, her feet practically digging in to the ground. She vaguely heard thunder rumbling in the distance.

"Khan, your fixation on revenge will get you killed!" she yelled, her grip tightening on his arm. "Your people need you _**alive**_! Think about the rest of them! Think about your baby!"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her around, glaring down at her. "I _**AM**_ thinking of them! Constantly! Now stay out of my way and let me protect my family!" he turned, pointing at someone. Zuleika.

"Watch her! Don't let her leave the camp!"

Zuleika looked confused, but answered, "Yes, My Lord," while Marla's mouth dropped. He went on, taking up a total of eight other people, including Joaquin, with phasers, spears, and knives. Then, with two rafts in tow, the hunting party left the settlement.

Marla tried to follow at first, but Zuleika slapped her hand on the smaller woman's shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going? Just sit here, and watch, like the rest of us," she told her. And Marla did. She watched Khan and the other eight Augments climb aboard the rafts and row away. She felt a phantom hand squeeze at her heart, and knew that if nothing was done, then all of them- even Khan- would die.

If Khan didn't return, who would lead the colony?

If he didn't come back, would she still be allowed to stay? Would her baby be allowed to live? Would she have to try and escape again, and have her child never know his father?

_Wouldn't that be better?_

…No. No it would not. She couldn't imagine this place without Khan. She couldn't even make herself conceive of the notion. And she knew that if anyone else were to lead the colony they wouldn't let her child- born from someone inferior and with possible defects and weaknesses in their eyes- be left to live. And after her stunt, even with help from Suzette, she might not be able to escape. With Khan alive, her baby's life would be safe.

There were no other options.

She pulled herself away from Zuleika and looked up at her, her resolve solidifying inside of her.

"You were told to watch me, right?" she asked the Amazon with the missing tooth.

"Yeah, and I'm going to obey."

"Then watch, but come with me," Marla told her.

That made Zuleika blink and shake her head. "What?"

"Come with me, and keep me safe," Marla repeated. "I know you don't want him to go, either. You know it could kill him."

"Our Lord is powerful," Zuleika argued.

"But that crocodile could still kill him!" Marla shouted at her. "And you know it! So help me, and keep him safe, or I'm going to fight you and go alone."

"I'd like to see you try," Zuleika said.

"She might not by herself," Suzette said, walking up behind Zuleika. "But two against one is always better, and I've already been branded as 'rebellious'."

Marla looked at Suzette, and felt her resolve waver. Suzette was pregnant, too. What if something happened to her? What if her friend got hurt? What if it killed her or this caused her baby harm?

"Suzette," Marla started, while the Asian Augment smiled up at the taller Amazon, and finally, Zuleika sighed.

"Its death for me whether I let you die, I become croc-bait, or he finds out that I disobeyed him," she said.

Marla looked from her to Suzette. "You don't have to do this. What about your baby?"

"And what about _yours_?" Suzette asked her. "Your man's not the only one going after that thing, and I already failed our King once. I'm not going to let you go off alone again. Or with her," she added, thumbing at Zuleika.

She didn't like it, but she knew Suzette was just as stubborn as she was. She nodded. "Fine, then. Get your knives, Zuleika. Suzette, get your phaser. I'll get my sling. We've got to catch up to them, quickly."

Marla knew these were huge risks, and not simply her own anymore. She had to be careful for her sake, as well as her friend's. But to let Khan endanger himself again was not an option.

To ensure her child's future protection, she had to do this.

While they were arming themselves, the clouds finally let the rain that they had been holding the past four days fall down on the colony. It drove everyone back to their shelters.

Everyone but Marla.

She ran out in the silver-sheets of water, stopping only to pick up the heaviest rocks she could find, and handle easily, and then grabbed the last of the colony's finished rafts. As she started dragging it, she was joined by Suzette and Zuleika. The women took the craft to the edge of the water, and climbed on.

Marla turned to Suzette once more, and asked her, "Are you sure you want to do this? You can still turn back."

"I'm doing my job," Suzette answered her. "Now get on or we're going without you."

She nodded, and then pushed off.

* * *

AN: What's gotten in to Marla?! Is this choice really to keep her baby safe in the future? Or is there another reason?

Comment, review, point out anything amiss? Have at it! Hopefully soon I can have another chapter ready for you folks! Thank you so much for your patience.

EDITS! MASSIVE EDITS! I do hope that many of you will re-read this chapter and the next. Some very obvious things were made apparent to me by reader sleepyowlet, and I hope to correct some massive errors.


	24. Chapter 24

AN: Some very interesting responses for the last chapter. Let's see what sorts of repercussions come from this chapter's events, shall we?

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

He looked out over the risen waters, eyes seeking out movement in the depths. The task was made exponentially more difficult by the resuming of the rain, but he was not going to let a downpour stop him. He had done more in more dire straits before, and this was nothing compared to a broken and dying spaceship falling on to San Francisco.

The group was divided among the rafts: himself, Joaquin, Harluf Ericcson, and Javier Rodriguez on one, while Jacob Talbot, Karyn Bradley, Tarou Mori, Remy Foss, and Ivan Swetz. The latter raft's occupants were not his preferred hunters, but their use of long-range and spear weapons would be necessary in this endeavor.

Crouching, and moving carefully, he turned to look in the waters between their rafts, and behind them. Where was it? Where had it gone? He wanted to find the reptile and kill it quickly! The threat to his people-

_To my future heir_

-was not acceptable in the least!

Lightening tore through the sky, and he saw the barest hint of movement in the water that was not created by the pounding rain.

"Talbot!" he shouted across to the second raft. The occupants readied themselves, but the mass that had disturbed the water went down. When it rose again, it came from _under_ the raft, sending it and the men and woman on it flying through the air and in to the waters.

"ATTACK!" Khan commanded to his own crew, and aimed his phaser, trying gain a good shot through the rough splashing and waves, but the crocodile's own actions caused their own vessel to rock and move farther away. Harluf threw his spear and it landed on the thick base of the crocodile's tail. It turned its attention to their raft now.

The distraction allowed the other four to surface. Karyn swam toward the rising slope of the mountain side, with Talbot, while Mori and Swetz swam toward the reptilian beast.

"Row," Khan ordered Rodriguez. "Row to the mountain! Joaquin, keep it engaged!"

Joaquin opened a pouch and took out the first of a set of bone-made throwing knives. He threw three in a single swipe of his arm, a flick to the wrist, yet all three merely grazed the sides of the crocodile's head.

"The hide is too thick!" Harluf said as he grabbed the long paddle from Rodriguez to row them to shore more quickly.

"A phaser set to kill will bring it down," Khan snarled as he aimed again, arm lifted and sight unobstructed.

At precisely the wrong moment, Mori stabbed at the crocodile's tail, and the massive creature swiped, taking the man down in to the water and causing the waters to undulate, and throwing Khan and his cohorts in to the murky depths.

It took very little time for his eyes to adjust to the dark, murky waters, but it was still time wasted. When he could see through, finding the saurian creature's form, the sight was chilling.

The damned beast was still rolling.

Mori was in its taloned grasp.

He made for the surface, realizing as he swam upward that the blow that had sent him in to the flood had also lost him his phaser. He would need a new strategy to kill the thing. When he broke through, he looked around. Where had his people gone?

"Joaquin!" he shouted, "Rodriguez? Ericcson?"

"My Lord!" he turned. Rodriguez clung to the remnants of one of the rafts, while behind him, climbing on to the rocks, was Harluf, grasping the hands of Karyn Bradley. But where was Joaquin? Swetz?

If they were to take the advantage he would need to reach the rocky shore. He started swimming to the others.

It felt like an explosion had occurred when the tail of the crocodile swept upward and slammed against Khan's chest, sending the super-human upward in to the air. He had not realized that there were sharp barbs on the creature, either, until he felt three of them swipe across his chest before he went sailing through the air for a second time, and once again plunging in to the water.

He shook his head, and as quickly as he was able, he swam for the surface once more. He felt the water stinging at the slashes across his torso, but ignored them. He turned, looking to and fro for the crocodile. It rose up to his right, the eyes and knotted cranium visible, first, then the long snout. It opened its jaws.

Khan drew his knife beneath the water.

A rock sailed through the air and landed right at the top of the great reptile's head.

His pale eyes swept upward and behind the creature, he saw three figures atop the restless floodwaters. Their identities were revealed with another bright flash of lightening.

_What is that woman doing!_

_Damned little fool!_

"MARLA!" he bellowed. "STOP! TURN BACK!"

The soaked woman, already re-armed with another rock, merely twirled the sling that he had given to her.

"Come on!" she screamed at the beast. It turned toward her and the other two women-

_Zuleika, and Suzette as well!? What is she thinking!_

-he swam after the thing while she continued to shout at it.

"Come on! Come get me! Come on!"

"Marla!" Khan shouted again. "Turn back NOW!"

She ignored him and sent another rock to the crocodile's head. Its speed increased.

It was moving too fast!

He lunged toward the tail and grabbed for the barbs that had slashed him before, and then pulled until he could climb up on it. He reached for the spear that was still embedded in the base.

The crocodile was about to bare down upon the women in their raft.

Suzette had drawn her darts. Zuleika raised a spear.

Something erupted from the water and the gargantuan reptile released a sound of agony.

"JOAQUIN!" Suzette shrieked from the raft. The Augment woman attempted to jump in to the water, but the others on the raft held her back.

Khan held on to the embedded spear, as the creature thrashed. He managed to catch sight of his old friend, grappled on to its lower jaw, his knife embedded in its cheek. The creature shook its head, and snapped once. Twice. It dove down. He could already feel it beginning another roll… He grabbed for the ridges and held on to the creature while it spun him and Joaquin the water.

He heard Marla's screams before he disappeared beneath the waves.

They did not need oxygen to breath, but if their lungs did take in too much water, they were still more than susceptible to drowning. He kept his mouth shut and concentrated on keeping his nose from inhaling until the animal rose again.

Joaquin had let go during the roll.

Khan saw his upper body dangling from crocodile's mouth.

He released a loud, thunderous howl, and climbed up and over the crocodile's back. It tried to shake him off, but another spear (Zuleika's?) sailed through the air, and he grabbed it, and then shoved it down in to the beast's back. It thrashed, but Khan waited until he could move again. Lunged for the head with his knife aimed downward.

He plunged it down with all of his superior strength, until he felt the blade break through bone, and the hilt pressed against the skull.

The crocodile's form made a final, deafening groan before it began to sink to the water.

Khan leapt off of the reptile's body and swam down. He would not let it take Joaquin down with it! He saw the super-man, still in the jaws. He grabbed for either side of the maw, and forced it open. He choked on a mouthful of water.

He ignored it.

Khan forced the jaw open and grabbed Joaquin's arm, pulling his body out of the monster's mouth. Then he kicked away from the dead reptile. Holding his friend and bodyguard in one arm, he rose up to the surface. When his head broke through, he saw the raft with the women coming to him.

"Move! Make room!" he yelled to them. Suzette, weeping and gasping, grabbed for Joaquin, as did Zuleika and they pulled him up on to the raft.

Khan checked his pulse.

It was weak.

"Joaquin," he said, clinging to the side of the raft, still half submerged in the flood water, and reaching up to grab the other man's jaw. "Joaquin, report to me, now! Speak!"

The other man's eyes opened to mere slits. His chest and side were pierced through, oozing with precious red blood, and no doubt much of it was filling his lungs. Joaquin's mouth opened and small rivulets of the dark crimson liquid dripped out.

"Safe…" the man's voice rasped.

"Yes, we will take you back to camp and safety," Khan said, but he knew that was not what Joaquin meant at all. But he could not accept what he saw. He simply could not!

Joaquin's head loosely rolled toward Suzette, who had taken his other hand and held it tightly in her fingers. "Baby?" Joaquin asked her.

"I'm fine," she sobbed, and she thumped his hand against her chest. "We'll get you back and the doc can fix you up, baby, just please," she shut her eyes, dropping her head down.

Joaquin's mouth twitched. He turned his attention to Marla.

"P- protect…" his friend's voice was hampered by coughing. More blood splattered over his lips, while Marla moved closer.

"Don't talk. Just hang on," she said. But Joaquin spoke once more.

"Protect…him…"

Khan felt his friends pulse flutter and vanish beneath his fingers. Joaquin Weiss spoke no more.

The world grew quiet, save for Suzette's sobbing, the thunder, and the slushing-sigh of the rain around them, splashing against the water. In time, Khan finally climbed up on to the raft, and he took the paddle in his hands. He called out the names of the others from the original hunting party, and heard their cries in reply. He followed their voices until they reached the rock-shore. They held on to the edge of the raft, when it became too full to carry any others fully, and they returned to the camp.

The whole time, he did not look at Marla, who sat silently beside the body of his strongest soldier.

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

Shock. That was the only thing that this feeling could be. She had never considered this outcome, or even thought it would be possible, when the decision had come to her in her mind to follow after Khan.

While they floated through the water back to camp, a lot of things that she hadn't considered before finally rose up and became quite clear in her brain.

_You really are a fucking idiot._

With the feeling of urgency and adrenaline dying down, she was able to see all of the follies in her choice. Yes, she could distract the saurian croc with her sling, but it was still just rocks and she was still just an ordinary human! And not even the Augments had stood a chance against the monster, so why had she thought she could take it down?

Then there was not only her own baby, but Suzette's. Risking her own life was one, but she risked two unborn babies, and both Suzette's and Zuleika's lives! God, how could she have been such a selfish, reckless bitch?!

The raft landed at the edge of the camp's dry boarder, and Khan stepped off of the wood and leather vessel while Harluf, Karyn, and Javier climbed from the water. Two other men that Marla recalled going with Khan had vanished.

Khan looked at Remy and Zuleika. "Take Joaquin to the sod-building… Freeze him in a tube until we can properly bury him." Suzette cringed, clinging tighter to Joaquin. Marla realized that she hadn't let go of him since he'd been pulled on to the raft.

A hand wrapped firm, shaking fingers around her bicep, and Marla was yanked to her feet. Khan didn't look at her, but he did speak to her.

"Come."

She stumbled as he pulled her along, and her brain whirled with thought.

Jesus, she'd done it. She'd made him snap, and now she was going to get it. He was going to beat her… She might have made her life (and her child's) forfeit with this! God, she always- _always_- made the dumbest mistakes!

But he didn't take her back to their shuttle. He stopped at a different one, and then pounded his fist against the door. She knew this one! Liam's!

The red-haired scientist's door opened and he looked out. "My Lord?" Liam asked.

Khan all but threw Marla at the man. "I am sending Gideon to examine her," his voice said. The deep tone held the barest hint of restrained rage.

"If you let her leave," he hissed at Liam, "I will throw you in to the flood and you may survive as best you can." He grabbed the door and slammed it shut.

Liam looked down at Marla and asked, "Just what the hell did you do to make him _that_ angry?"

She didn't answer him. Everyone would know, soon enough, anyway.

Two weeks went by, with rain and only Gideon coming to check up on her. The first visit, immediately after the return of the hunt, had the man shaking his head as he scanned Marla's body thoroughly.

"You are one crazy bitch," the doctor said, "And damn lucky. This stunt could have caused you to go in to a miscarriage," he admonished while he made sure that nothing else was plaguing her.

_As if you need to make me see that._

Gideon's subsequent check-ups were all quick, and each time, after he catalogued her symptoms, he would give her a look. The look expressed so much disappointment that it made Marla want to crawl back to her caves again. She didn't want anyone to see her.

No such luck in that, really. While she wasn't allowed to leave Liam's shuttle, it also meant that she had had to occupy it with four other Augments besides the scientist, and that made living quarters tight. Liam obeyed Khan's order and didn't let her leave the shuttle the whole time.

She didn't want to leave, really.

Each day left her to her own thoughts, and they all said the same thing.

_You're an idiot._

_You nearly killed yourself, your best friend, and both of your babies._

_All you cared about was your own skin and your own fate, and now you've left Suzette without the man she loves. Now _her _baby will never know its father._

_You killed Joaquin with your carelessness._

_It's your fault. All of it is your fault_

_You're a horrible person. Selfish, and stubborn._

_You don't deserve the child growing in you._

_It'd be better off with a different mother._

She didn't deny any of those thoughts. Really, she could have stayed in the camp. Or asked someone else… But no. She would only be making more of Khan's people go to their deaths. She had rationalized it was for the baby's future, but what future would that baby have had at all if she'd died? Or if she had gone over-board and had a miscarriage?

When Khan had disappeared in the water when the super-croc went in to it's death roll, she'd thought that she was about to have all of her fears happen, anyway. Her own reckless behavior- her need to 'prove herself' and 'be equal' to these people- had nearly sent Khan to death, anyway.

_You'll never be equal to them, and _this_ proves it._

Would Suzette have forgiven her if she'd lost her baby, too? Would Joaquin have forgiven her if Suzette had died? Would she be able to live with the deaths of her best friend and Zuleika- who for all her animosity was still a strong and capable woman- on her conscience?

_Can you live with Joaquin's blood on your hands?_

No. No she couldn't.

The rains stopped, and they waited another seven days, Liam checking the scanners each day as the clouds moved further off. One morning, while Marla lay curled up in her depression, he said, "The storms are finally gone… Good thing, too."

She didn't respond. She curled up tightly on her seat.

The next day, after the official end of the monsoon, they buried Joaquin. Marla hadn't wanted to go, at first, because it meant the rest of the colony seeing her. But she owed it to Joaquin. Owed it to Suzette and Khan… The man had died protecting the three women and his king, after all…

The people stood at the edge that led to the mountains. The earth was still soft from rain and muddy, but a hole had been dug deep enough. Three Augment men lowered the blanket-wrapped body of Joaquin (extracted from the cryo-tube) in to the earth.

Khan stood before the remaining people. He wore a tiger pelt across his shoulders, like a cape, and he said, "Let us remember today… the lives of Joaquin Weiss, Tarou Mori, and Ivan Swetz… though we have but one body to bury, we shall mourn all three men. They died, doing their duty. They protected this settlement, and those whom they loved, with all of their strength and courage… They will be honored for their sacrifices…"

Marla's lower lip quivered and she glanced around. She saw Zuleika among a group of people. She was standing with Talbot, and he had her hand in his. Suzette stood alone, her hand over her stomach, which had begun to swell out, like Marla's. Oh, her poor, poor friend! Marla felt a fresh wave of guilt and sadness for them both.

_My fault… All of it. Please, Suzette, forgive me, someday, please? I don't deserve it at all, but please, someday?_

She looked up at Khan only to meet his cold gaze. She went still.

Slowly, people stepped forward to either throw flowers in to the grave, or to say a few words about the three men who had died in the croc hunt. Each person remembered something different about them-

Tarou had grown up in Kyoto.

Ivan liked archery for fun, not just for battle.

Joaquin had ripped the hatch from a tank, once, and walked away from a fire-fight without a scratch.

When Suzette approached, she looked down at the grave.

"…He was… A complete idiot, sometimes. He was a genius, like the rest of us, but he would forget small things… Cap on the toothpaste. No socks when we're asleep. But some things, he knew like the back of his hand. Like my favorite cookie or how to keep me from flipping him over in training by…tickling my right elbow…" she shook and covered her face. Khan stepped over to her and touched Suzette's shoulder.

"And he… was the most beautiful man I'd ever known. And I will miss him every single day," she finished. Khan let Suzette step away, and the small Asian Augment walked through the crowd of mourners. She walked right by Marla.

"Su- Suzette? Suzette!" Marla called, her voice cracking.

She kept right on, and didn't look back at Marla.

The auburn haired woman's face felt wet. She'd started crying.

_Oh God, what have I done? I should have never let her go with me- I should never have gone at all! My one real friend, and I've ruined her life!_

Before she could leave, to follow Suzette, Liam grabbed hold of her arm, and gently walked with her up to the grave. He looked down, and simply said, "Goodbye, Joaquin."

She was next.

She looked at the wrapped up body. It wasn't dissimilar to a mummy, actually. She took a deep breath, and she said, "I'm…so so sorry, Joaquin… You didn't deserve this…" She shut her eyes. "You should have come home with Suzette and been able to have a family… And it's my fault that you can't. God, I'm sorry, and…" she couldn't say anymore. She covered her face, and Liam started to lead her away.

Khan stepped over to Liam and whispered in his ear.

"Yes, My Lord," Liam replied, and he took Marla over and around the crowd.

"…Where are we going?" she asked the scientist.

"…Our Lord wants a word with you alone."

* * *

AN: I hope this chapter was exciting enough folks, and that you see that, yes, there are consequences for one's actions. And that knowing our mistakes too late does no good. Critique, review, and hope you are all still enjoying the story.


	25. Chapter 25

AN: Marla's made some pretty big mistakes up to now, hasn't she folks? Well, the story's far from over.

Also: Please re-read the previous 2 chapters. Each has been given some extra additions and edits. Thank you! And thanks again to sleepyowlet for pointing out so much. You readers and reviewers help me make a better product with your feedback.

* * *

The shuttle was worse than when she had returned from the caves. Not only were there cracks in the metallic walls, but there were actual, fist-sized holes in them. The seats had been ripped up, and pulled away from their mounts. This wasn't a bull let loose in a small space. This was a herd of cattle that had been provoked in to a stampeding frenzy.

It made her wonder how much worse it would be for her when Khan arrived.

_As if you don't deserve it?_

Liam had shut the door after her, but she knew he likely stood outside, waiting for Khan. She looked over at the door, and took a deep breath. What would happen when it opened next?

She didn't have to wait too long. The door let out a shrill metallic squeaking, and Khan stepped inside. He removed his tiger-pelt cloak, and tossed it to the floor. Then turned his gaze to her.

That blue-flame look was hot enough to actually sear her skin.

"…My oldest friend… is dead, Marla," he said to her. "I saved him from a prison, in the heart of Israel, and he kept my life safe since then… He helped me gather my crew for the _Botany Bay_, and was the last, before myself, to go in to cryogenic stasis… And now he is gone."

"I know," she whispered. Her fingers shook and her lip trembled. "I'm…It's my fault, Khan, I know it is, I'm…"

"You disobeyed me, again," he continued on, slowly circling around her in that predatory stance. "By leaving the colony's safety… Questioned my own ability by coming after me… do you know what that can do to a man's pride, Marla? Not only that," he added, leaning in close behind her. "You endangered the life of _my child._" His voice was a low, feline snarl in her ear. "And the life of my Head of Security, and _her_ child… You nearly lost us a capable hunter, and another fertile womb… Do you understand the severity of these things?"

She was shaking, and her tears flowed more. God, she really was pathetic, wasn't she? Pathetic and stupid…

"Yes," she gasped. "Yes, I understand, and I know- I know I don't deserve any forgiveness! I killed him, and nearly killed others, and it was all absolutely worthless," she agreed, her voice failing any form of steadiness as she cried. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, or Suzette's, because I was selfish and self-centered and afraid, and I just wanted you to come back safely because without you, no one will accept us, and I," her voice faltered. She whined, "I love you so much, Khan, it hurts to think of life without you!"

He stayed silent as she spoke. When she finished and took short, shallow, sobbing breaths, he asked quietly, "Are you done?"

She shut her eyes and nodded, sniffling loudly.

He walked away from her, his back to her.

"Your actions… were needless, reckless, and ultimately fatal to one life… My own lost two lives."

Her breath caught in her throat. What? She opened her eyes and looked at his back.

"Tarou and Ivan died because of my thirst for revenge… I admit this. This is my only weakness. But it is something that clouds my judgment. Just as your…irrational fear and concern for me clouds yours."

He turned back to her and his eyes caught her own again. Their fire had not yet died. "I can understand why you chose your actions, Marla, and I was the one who forced you to choose them, in a sense. I do regret that. After all, you still have the mentality of an officer, and officers of any military are faced with decisions such as this often… However, I am also still… angry, Marla, for the results of those decisions. And I still grieve for my friend. It will be some time, yet, before these emotions will fully leave me. Even _I_ must heal from some things."

He walked up to her, and looked down. She followed his gaze right to her stomach, pouching and just starting its swell as the life inside grew. He placed his palm against her stomach. "I confess, if you did not carry this life- half of my own genetic code- within you, I would have punished you, severely, for this."

She nodded, her eyes still trained on his hand. He took it away, and took her chin in his fingers. Then he made her look up at him.

"You have shown so much potential, Marla. You had begun to grow in to something remarkable. Then you make such disastrous choices… How can I trust you to protect my child? Or the rest of my people?"

She swallowed. "Please don't take my baby away," she begged him. "I swear, I'll never doubt you or disobey you again. I won't do anything to hurt the baby, or put myself in danger. I won't ever… I know I don't deserve to be having this baby, but Khan, please, let me atone for this."

He only watched her as she pleaded. When he let go of her chin, he said, "Such promises you have made before. How can I trust you this time?"

He put his hands behind his back.

"You will relinquish your knife and sling. You are not to leave this encampment unless _I_ give you permission, and can accompany you. If I deny your requests- _any_ requests- you will heed to my decision and you will not question me… When I hunt you will be placed in your dwelling and watched by capable guards, and you are not to leave until I return- for I _will_ return, every time. And you are to keep yourself healthy for the sake of the child. Do I make myself clear?"

She nodded and exhaled. "Yes, Sir."

"…Very well. Go." He opened the door to the shuttle. "Return to Liam's shuttle, give him your weapons. Then follow my commands from this day on."

As she stepped forward to leave, he put his hand in front of the door and leaned in to her ear again.

"Let us hope that the next time I call you to private audience will be more… forgiving." He lifted his arm up, and she exited. Her feet took her right to Liam's shuttle to begin her penance.

It was a long one. She did as she was told, and gave up her weapons, which Liam hid away. She stayed in the shuttle when Khan took others for fishing and hunting excursions (which increased as the waters went down) eventually, and while she did worry for him, she remembered that he had said he would come back.

During her confinement, she talked with Liam at length about the tunnels. Together they discussed the various uses of them, aside from emergency shelter. There were possibilities for storage of food, better and more long-lasting than the cryo-tubes, which couldn't last forever. They could indeed mine them and discover what the mystery mineral was that blocked the scanners, and they could even use this substance and any other natural metals to make buildings, in their future.

"We'll need a forge," Marla said during one such conversation. "We sort of need one anyway, if we want to strip down the shuttles. Sod-houses are good, but the metal would be better for building and especially for re-enforcing the walls of the tunnels that are found."

"Yes, I entirely agree," Liam said. "Though a forge requires stone, too, and a very strong fire. The wood will be difficult to burn for a while."

"Roughly three months of the year we have monsoons," she said. "We haven't seen what winter could be like, if this part of the planet even encounters a winter season. We might have more than enough time to get materials for a forge."

"Marla, I'm going to get some of our people, now that the water's decreased, and propose a trip to the cave you found. Since you've seen it first hand, I want you to come with us."

The proposition perked Marla's head up. Oh, to be able to explore the caves again, and at leisure and length!

But for all she might have wanted to, she shook her head.

"No," she answered him. "You can go, please, by all means. But I can't. I have to think about the baby."

"Four months along," Liam observed. "Quite astonishing, really. It still baffles me that so far you've defied quite a few statistical odds and parameters be have gone this long without complications. Absolutely amazing."

"My granddad used to call it 'Irish Luck'." She picked at a fraying line in her Starfleet uniform. "I don't consider myself that lucky."

"Oh, but you are," Liam said. "Just look at you! A mere human, stranded here, with a race of people that are vastly superior in strength and intellect, and yet you're holding your own well enough that you're considered an authority in one area? I shouldn't be telling you this," he said, leaning in and whispering, "But… all of the things you've been talking with me about, I've shared with our Lord… He thinks they're brilliant."

She felt her heart ache. "Really? He does?"

"Of course. We all make very big mistakes from time to time, Marla, but it isn't the mistake that defines us. It is what we do to make up for them."

She looked down again. "It'll be a while before I make up for this one."

"But you're still a clever woman. And still exceptionally lucky. That's a difficult thing for a man of science like me to admit."

The compliment made her smile. "Thank you, Liam."

"Don't mention it. Now," he said, "Since you can't come with us, could you perhaps give some directions? I'd ask you to draw a map but we've yet to develop paper."

"I'll see about getting that started, but until then, yes," she answered him. "I can give you very good directions."

She did see to the creation of paper. As well as the construction of more sod-houses, after the first one survived the unrelenting monsoon. As the ground dried beneath them, they replanted the samples and saplings of the Comp Berries and the few edible roots they had discovered in their preparation times before. The fish brought in now helped widen the diet, and kept everyone going, as did the stored up meat from months before.

The pregnant women in the colony all showed good health and strength.

It was a beautiful, miraculous sight to see them. Though they all did complain of the various symptoms of pregnancy, from frequent urination to the hot-flashes and bloating, the cramps and swelling ankles, they all still seemed very eager for the offspring that were coming. Marla even overheard a few women talking about baby-names. Lots of them wanted traditional ones from their culture. Others were considering the names of scientists or trainers who had guided them.

There was only one that Marla didn't get to see so often.

Running in to Suzette was like trying to catch smoke. Marla would look for her whenever she went out, and she never saw her. When she'd ask Gideon about her, he would answer, "The baby's doing well." But nothing else. Marla knew that she could never deserve the woman's forgiveness for taking that child's father away, but Marla at least wanted to see her.

And then there were Joaquin's last words to her.

_Protect him._

Had he meant his baby? Had he wanted Marla to help Suzette protect her baby in his place? Could she do that? Really? Especially with the mother of that child avoiding her (it felt as if that were the case) and hiding away? She wanted to honor Joaquin's wish. She wanted to help Suzette in any way that she could.

Things didn't change until Marla was twenty seven weeks along, and working with leather to bind together a small stack of their newly made paper.

"What's all the paper for?"

Marla stopped fussing with binding glue that had been made, and then turned to look up and over her shoulder. Suzette stood behind her, one hand resting on her protruding belly, while the other hung down at her side. The auburn haired woman stood up and looked at the super-woman's dark eyes.

"It's… For writing and… other things. The colony hadn't made paper yet and…"

"Writing? Like what? History?" Suzette asked her.

"Well… yes. Someday, the tricorders won't work anymore. We'll need to record the history of the colony somehow."

"Good luck with that," Suzette answered. "…There are lots of things that they'll want to know about."

Silence hung down between them as thick and heavy as molasses, before Marla dug up courage and opened her mouth.

"Suzette… There is… Absolutely nothing I can do to make up for what happened… And it isn't… It isn't right or fair, and it never was, that you lost the man you loved, and it was my fault… But, if… If I can do anything to help you, or your baby, I swear, I will do it. You're the first real friend I ever had here, and… It has been breaking my heart to know that you've been in so much pain."

Suzette didn't reply immediately. She shifted on her feet, making her right hip pop out.

"I blamed you," Suzette finally answered. "I blamed you one-hundred percent for it. It took a while for me to get past that. This pain won't go away, and I hate that, but I've been able to think again. Joaquin…" her voice tripped a bit when she said his name. She coughed. "Joaquin was just doing what came naturally… Taking down a threat. Protecting people. He kept me and my baby safe… he kept our Lord's baby safe. And he kept you safe… Besides, there's blame for me, too," she added. "I shouldn't have helped you, or gone off with you, and that compromised us both. I knew what would happen but... I rationalized it because, even though I thought he'd be fine... I didn't want to lose my only friend."

That gave Marla pause. "I'm... What do you mean?"

"I'm not exactly a fucking social butterfly, you know," Suzette told her. "I got along with others well enough for training. But…" she switched the subject, "Anyway, if it hadn't been us, he would have done the same thing for our Leader… He was the most loyal man ever, and I know that this kid of his will be as loyal as him. And just as strong."

Marla blinked, several times, to keep from crying. "I'll never be sorry enough for what happened."

"Oh, God, stop whining, Future Woman," Suzette sighed. "I forgive you, already… Learn to fucking listen." She walked over and put one arm around Marla's shoulder. Their bellies bumped together. "Damn, you're too fat to hug."

That caused Marla to sob out a laugh. "So are you." Suzette laughed with her. Oh, it felt so good to finally laugh with her again!

Suzette put her hand against Marla's stomach, and said, "I hope this kid doesn't get your fat-head." When she pulled away, they exchanged another look. Their friendship might not be what it was before, but Marla was glad to still have it. She would honor her friendship and Joaquin's request, and make sure that Suzette and her baby were always protected and safe. Even if she couldn't do it herself, she would find a way- her own way- to do it.

"Would you like to help me with book binding?" Marla asked her.

"Not really, it sounds a little boring," Suzette answered. "Could you join me later for meditation? Helps you forget about the less 'beautiful' parts of being pregnant."

"Sure," Marla agreed.

And with something so simple, there was hope again.

* * *

A few short days later, with the sunset casting an orange glow across the last of the flood-waters, which were nearly dried away, Marla was testing some of the inks made from ground and mashed flower petals in one the books that had been bound. Liam entered the shuttle and said to her, "Our Lord is back from his hunting, Marla."

"I see," she said softly. That meant she could go outside again.

"He…wants to see you."

That made her put down the make-shift wooden 'pen' and she looked at the red-haired scientist. "Are you sure?" she asked him.

"Yes. He wants you in is quarters immediately."

Khan had moved from the shuttle that he had practically demolished single-handedly in to the original sod-house. The newer ones served as their storage, now, but as more were made, and the forge, currently being constructed, was finished, they would all be moving in to the new houses and take up the task of dismantling the shuttles for their metals, to make better weapons and reinforcing walls for the recently explored tunnels.

Marla stood up, carefully, and then nodded. "I won't keep him waiting, then."

Her baby scrunching up her lungs already made her short of breath, but as Liam helped her outside, she felt the difficulty in breathing grow. Her heart thumped in her chest with the power and force of a war drum. She bit and worried on her lower lip. They were met by Zuleika only a few steps away from the shuttle.

"What's going on?" Liam asked her.

"I'm going to escort her the rest of the way," Zuleika said. Marla's eyes flicked from the scientist to the Amazon.

"Why?" Marla asked her.

"Because you need to be guarded," said Zuleika in reply.

Liam looked down at Marla, shrugged, then whispered, "Good luck. Be careful." And he returned to his shuttle. Marla gulped, and followed Zuleika to the earthen-made dwelling.

The flap that had originally been placed on the opening had long been replaced with a thicker leather covering. Zuleika lifted up for Marla, and Marla hesitated before stepping inside. She looked over at the dark-haired Augment woman.

"Go inside," she said.

Marla squared her shoulders slightly and she ducked in.

Khan sat on a retrieved section of cushioned seating from the old shuttle. To his right, various pelts had been piled in to what she guessed was a sort of make-shift bed. Marla looked at the man sitting in front of her and saw that he had taken time to clean himself of any blood from the hunts. With the return of warm weather, he did not wear a shirt. The long gashes that he had gained from the croc-fight had healed and were now pink scars.

In his hands, he held a book.

One of _her_ books. A bowl of beetle-shell ink sat on the floor to his left hand side.

"You," she said, softly but calmly, in spite of what her sweating palms were telling her, "You called for me, Sir?"

Khan's eyes flicked up. Still edged with fire from his recent hunting. But not as burning hot as the last time they had been alone together. "I did." He shut the book, leaned to the left to retrieve the ink.

"I have been observing you since we last met," he said to her. "You have been very productive. Paper, and books… Trial inks and pens for writing? Very good work, Marla."

She dropped her gaze downward. "Thank you, Sir. The colony didn't have them yet."

"An idea that you and Liam made together… You are both an excellent team." He walked over to her. "I was rather impressed with the results of the tunnel exploration. He did an excellent and thorough exploration… Though he owes his findings to you, greatly. You did discover them, after all."

She shook her head. "On accident after leaving, Sir."

"And yet you came back and told me about them." He circled her again. A cat with a toy. Predator and prey. She froze. "And when you were asked to accompany Liam to the tunnels, you did not, for the sake of the child inside of you."

How had he found out about that?

"You are speaking with Suzette, again," he remarked.

"She," Marla took as deep of a breath as she could, "She said she forgave me, Sir, and I have a promise to keep."

"What is that?" he asked her.

"Joaquin…When he died, he said 'protect him'. I think he wanted me to help Suzette protect their baby…"

Khan thought on this. "Nothing else?"

"What else could he mean?"

Khan paused. "Marla… You may think you can do nothing to help others, but your efforts and knowledge has helped me and my people from the beginning. Whenever you applied it well, and consulted others, such as myself, you were able to do so much. Though that intelligence was born from what you already possessed."

He was… Complimenting her?

"I… Thank you, Sir," she said, at a loss for what to say.

He paused in the middle of his second circuit around her. "But you have lost some of the spirit that you once had."

She chanced to look at him. His gaze was hard and heavy on her.

"Spirit?" she asked him.

"I can understand that the tragedy suffered some months ago caused much of that, but we must all face such hardships, sometimes. They help us to grow. And ultimately, it happened not only from your own actions, but mine, and others. Joaquin himself had a hand in his end. He was protecting my heir, and its mother, as well as his child and his beloved. Such loyalty and love cannot be tarnished with resentment.

"The rest, I confess," he said, moving behind her, "was my own doing. Before you ran, I said… something that caused you pain. When you left, it made me look within my own mind and heart. What I saw I had never thought I would find, or feel, especially for someone like you."

She started shaking. She clenched and unclenched her hands. She felt him step up until his chest was pressed up against her back. She felt his breath against the crown of her head, and his hands as they went to her waist and slid up over the tattered blue fabric of her uniform to rest on her expanded stomach. He placed his lips against her hair.

_Déjà vu_

Marla pulled away from Khan, but he grabbed her arms, though not to hurt or bruise. Merely to hold her still.

"You do not believe me." He wasn't asking. He knew.

"No," Marla said. "I… I want to, but I'm… Khan I love you- _really_ love you- but if I'm just someone you're going to use, then I don't want it. I don't want more pretty lies!"

"They are not lies," he said. He let go of her arms and took her face in his hands. "Your spirit, as bright as fire and stronger than steel, your will, and your tenacity beguiled me, but your capacity to learn and adapt drew me in… And your natural ability to love, forgive, and show mercy confound me." He dropped his hands from her face to take her hands, and held them tightly in his fingers. "What you lack in physical strength, Marla, you make up for in a thousand other ways. Do you not see? I cannot forgive easily, or feel compassion and care for others aside from my own kind. We compliment and complete one another so perfectly… Marla, you are a marvel. Like my mother, who conceived Project Chrysalis, though you were born of ordinary humans, you are a Superior Woman. I want you, and only you, to stand beside me as we shape this colony in to a Kingdom."

She shook her head as he professed all of these things to her. It was too good. Too wonderful to hope for.

"You… do you really mean that? Honestly?" she asked him. She wanted it too badly for it to be the truth.

"Yes," the word was almost a prayer on his lips. "My Marla, my love, I want you, and I cannot stand waiting any longer to have you again." Khan's mouth pressed against hers, and he practically growled against her lips as she felt the last of her doubt and fear die. She threw her arms around his neck, while his hands went to her hips. He was bent and pulled away to keep from pressing against her stomach, but he managed to guide her over to the pelts. He took his lips away and pulled at the blue uniform, nearly tearing the too-tight thing off of Marla's body, his fingers seeking to strip her bare, before his hands went to strip himself down.

"Let me!" she demanded as she pushed his hands away from the leather coat and slid the animal skin down his arms. Her fingers flew to the strings that held him in his breeches, and kept going until they were both fully naked.

A brief flash of self-consciousness seized hold of her. Her body had changed since the last time she had been with him intimately. Her breasts had swollen, along with her stomach. Her skin was more flushed, and she felt like every imperfection she had was on display. But then her eyes went to the scars across his chest. Scars that hadn't been there before a few months ago. She moved her fingers over those scars. Traced them with the tips.

"Rug makers used to leave imperfections in their creations," she said before she moved in close and began to kiss the scars. "They made the rugs more beautiful and unique than before… You were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and these make me love you more than ever," she said against his skin.

He knelt down, and then guided her down. He stretched back along the pelts, and bent his legs. He let her straddle his waist, his thighs becoming a seat for her. The long fingers of his strong hands went to her belly again, and ran over the smooth, stretched surface.

"Sacred mother and the fount of desire," he murmured as his hands wandered up to cup her breasts. She whimpered, then moaned as his touch both soothed her tender and aching flesh, yet made it burn with sensations that she had missed so much. She eased down over him until she felt the scalding hot, electrifying connection as he slid inside of her. He started to ease his hips upward while she moved her own down, and they found a perfect synchronization to their bodies.

Every nerve in her body was lit up and sending shocks and jolts all at once. His hands, his shaft inside of her, the meaty slide and slap of their bodies together, the gentle yet absolutely urgent motions of their hips. Had it always felt this good? Was it the hormone changes she was experiencing every day? Or was it their need for one another? Their absolute hunger for each other that had been denied for so long and was finally- _Yes, God, FINALLY!_- being satisfied again?

She looked down at Khan, and watched his face. Observed every how his body reacted to hers. Looked in to his eyes as they changed yet again…Neither fire nor ice, but clear blue waters that pulled her deep in to the currents. Her right hand found his left and she pressed their palms together. Laced their fingers through. She put her left hand to his cheek, and rubbed her thumb against his sharp, high cheek.

_Mine._

_My beautiful warrior. My strong and fiery king._

_Everything that I'm not, but want to be._

_My one and only love!_

_Mine!_

She ground against him, though kept her pace while his right hand's fingers slid over her side and hip, then back up to her breasts.

"Khan!" her voice was a hush of breath but the wanton urgency was clear.

"Yes," he answered her as he pressed his hips up harder, rocking quicker beneath her. She shut her eyes and they fell together, swept away in the rush of their lust and love for one another. While she trembled with absolutely delicious, delirious aftershocks, he eased her down on to her side, until he had her back pressed to his chest, and his arms wrapped around her. His hands rested on her belly.

He pressed his plump lips to the skin behind the shell of her ear. She let out a long, contented sigh.

"No regrets, my love?" he asked her.

"None," she answered him. "None at all."

A thump against her stomach startled her. Khan lifted his head slightly and placed his palm flat to her stomach, and it happened again.

"Definitely no regrets," Marla reaffirmed before she heard Khan's dark and utterly edible chuckle in her ear.

* * *

The decision for this had come from the many couples that wanted their children to be born to proper parents. It also came from childless couples who wanted to make it clear that they were attached, and that they loved one another. Two such supplicants for it were a pair of men who were eager to make their love for one another known publically. There were no objections in the least.

Thus, a wedding was planned. During Marla's thirty-second week of pregnancy, she was garbed in a new leather and silver-blanket made sari that touched and trailed the ground, and gave her stomach more than enough room. Standing outside of the sod-house while she prepared for the mass-ceremony was Pavarti Rao, who had already dressed for her own part in the wedding (and now had full use of both of her legs), and Zuleika, similarly dressed. Marla had been surprised to find out through gossip and confirmations from others that Zuleika had grown attached to Talbot, who thought she was beautiful even with the missing tooth, and that Javier had been admiring Pavarti for a long time. Pavarti more than returned the sentiments.

Though to be told that both women wanted to be her bridesmaids and new guards was more surprising.

Suzette wove flowers through Marla's hair, now longer than ever, and made sure that the small tiger-pelt cape- to match Khan's- set properly on Marla's shoulders.

"You should be with us as a bride," Marla told her Maid of Honor. "You and Joaquin should be getting married today, too."

"I've got my proof of his love," Suzette said, gently patting at her baby-bump. "I don't need anything else."

"You're still a better friend than I deserve," Marla told her.

"And you're going to make the other two brides late for this," Suzette told her, standing back. "I'm done. Let's go."

Marla turned to face her, and she looked in her friend's eyes. "If the baby is a boy… I want to name him Joaquin. If you don't mind. To remember the man who kept him safe, even before he was born."

Suzette's expression softened and Marla saw the dark irises glaze slightly. Suzette blinked, and nodded. "That's fine. I'd…I'd like that." She then reached for Marla's hand and gave it a squeeze. "And when my baby is born… I'll teach him everything I know, and everything his father taught me… And he will protect your baby, too."

Marla smiled at Suzette, and hugged her as closely and tightly as their bodies would allow. Then she let go of her and the four women walked to the central fire-pit. Put out for the ceremony, but still the great focal point of the camp.

Khan stood waiting with the other couples participating. He turned his attention to the women as they approached, and he extended his hand out to Marla. Today he had his hair tied and held in a tight fish-tail braid. His tiger cape trailed the ground. A soft-skin tunic replaced his long-coat, though he still looked exceptionally regal to her.

Marla smiled, and while her guards broke away to join their partners, Suzette stood at Marla's side while the petite woman took the Emperor's hand.

"My people," Khan addressed the couples. "My dear brothers and sisters. We have seen much strife, and suffered through many trials and losses. Today we shall have joy, again. Today, we gather to celebrate love, and join many in matrimony. I ask that you all turn to your partner, and take their hand."

The throng did as they were instructed, each pair looking with love and affection in to one another's eyes. Even Harluf had a bride, becoming close to Karyn Bradley after the crocodile hunt.

"Today, you shall vow to the one beside you that you will stand together with them, through any hardship and every triumph. That you will honor them as your partner, and your love," Khan turned his eyes to Marla, who met the ice-colored gaze with warm hues of amber. "Vow to keep them, and protect them, and to be true and loyal to them, for as long as you live. And that your heart's devotion will not end until death parts you."

He turned his eyes back to the crowd. "Do you swear to this vow?"

The various voices rang out with 'I do'.

With a look of pure satisfaction and pride, Khan raised his free hand. "Then I pronounce you partners for life!" Cheers rang out and all of the couples let themselves indulge in kisses for their new spouses, each show of affection ranging from gentle and chaste to rather hot and a bit much for such a public occasion.

Khan turned to Marla, then, and reached in to some pocket she hadn't known his clothing possessed. He pulled out something small and white.

"What…What is that?" she asked him.

"Something made some time ago, while in solitude." He slid it over her finger. A ring. Made from bone? "I had thought to turn a tiger tusk in to a sword, but… I realized that this was a better application."

She felt her cheeks grow warm as she blushed. She looked at the markings. Their names, in English, woven together.

"You do realize how unbelievably cheesy this is?" Marla asked him, even as she felt tears spring to her eyes.

"It is acceptable when given genuinely," he countered. He then raised her newly adorned hand, and he said with a clear and loud voice, "I present to you all your new Empress. Marla McGivers Singh."

Suzette clapped beside them, and soon the rest were clapping their hands together.

As the full meaning of the title and the day sat on her, Marla couldn't help but let herself give in to the happiness. She was alive, with this magnificent man, and with these amazing people, with a healthy child growing each day inside of her.

Life was absolutely perfect.

* * *

AN: TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY?! WHAAAAAT?

I did say the story wasn't over! If you're not a fan of schmoopy chapters and sweet stuff, then sorry if this wasn't your cup of tea. If you're a fan of the absolutely cute and lovey-dovey things, I hope you enjoyed!

WARNING: If you like happy endings and hopeful futures, then stop RIGHT NOW. However, if you aren't afraid of tragic stories, and lots of feels, then hang on. It's the beginning of the end.


	26. Chapter 26

AN: I am terribly sorry for the wait, but it will be worth it. To you brave souls willing to venture onward to the inevitable, I thank you for staying with me. Also a big thank you to those of you who still read after the last 3 chapters. We're in this together, my friends.

Also, to describe what comes next, I will be borrowing some description from _To Reign in Hell_, but I will add my own words to it. As always: _Star Trek_ and all related properties belong to their owners. I own nothing.

* * *

The first two years on Ceti Alpha V had their moments of sadness and strife. Aside from those lost before the great wedding, there were two more lives lost among the remaining colonists. Both had been excavators for the tunnels that ran through the great mountain- its substance finally identified as limestone- and under their lands. The men had returned from the excursions with blank-eyed stares and obeying every word said to them, sometimes near-literally. (An off-hand comment to just go take a dive in to the river nearly ended in one of the men's self-drowning). Their behavior, especially when they began to experience painful seizures and screams of madness, was confirmed to be caused by the eel-like parasites that had been seen before.

When the men finally died, their bodies were quickly taken for autopsy, observed by Khan, and performed by Liam and Gideon. They discovered how the eels entered the brain and what happened when they were inside. Discovering one still wrapped around the cerebral cortex of one of the victims, the other crawling from the second corpse's ear drum. Both eels were killed immediately.

"It seems that when the will to survive or fight isn't strong enough," Liam had explained later, "Then the host can't fight off the parasite. It makes its home around the cortex and that is how it is able to secrete the neurotoxin. This makes the host docile enough to let the larvae grow until they mature."

The news that some of his people were not strong enough to fight the parasitic beetle larvae did upset Khan, but he merely commanded, "Be more careful in the caves, then, and make certain to kill any larva or adult beetles that you come across."

The moments of sadness and were greatly outnumbered with times of joy and progression for their civilization

With diligence they managed to avoid further casualties during the preparation of the caves, and by the middle of the first year of the colony's existence, they had a hide-away from the monsoons. They moved the stasis tubes, their containers for food to keep stored away, in to the deeper rock tunnels, and even managed to build and pick openings nearer the great limestone and mineral mountains to be able to enter the underground network quickly. The less stable tunnels, surrounded only by earth and dirt, were fortified with the metals from the shuttles.

Only three vessels remained untouched, after the others had been pulled and picked apart for their various metals, wires, and other parts. Anything from those escape shuttles was re-formed and re-used. No one lived in them anymore, save Gideon who still used the clean and well-kept space of his own for a hospital. All other colonists had long since moved in to sod houses.

The new forge meant that they could smelt the metals they salvaged, as well as the various minerals that they discovered in the earth. They were able to make proper axes, picks, chisels, hammers, nails, blades. The production of books increased and Marla watched as Khan took on a personal project (a daunting feat, really, in between his duties of being supreme ruler) to write from memory his favorite novels.

"Works like those of Milton and Melville should not be forgotten, even here," he had told his queen when she inquired about his new hobby.

A second mass wedding was held for the newer couples, and the births of the many children of the Augments had brought so much cheer and greater happiness than any of the citizens of New Chandigarh had felt in many years.

This was especially true in Marla's case.

The birth of Marla's son had been a hard and difficult affair, even in regards to how births usually progressed. The woman had blacked out twice, even with the numbing ointments and other anesthetics they had on hand (including a natural one discovered from applying the pulp of an orange-flowered plant recovered from the deep jungle) and she had had to hold on constantly to Khan's hand while she went through the pain during her lucid moments.

But after she had awoken, though she did have a suture on her stomach, and her whole body ached, she also had a son, and a smiling, proud Emperor waiting for her.

Her first words after the birth were, "Let me see him."

Khan, who cradled the tiny child in his arms, carefully passed the infant to her. Marla looked down in to the still scrunched face of the baby. He was tiny, with all of his fingers and toes, his skin soft and tiny mouth mumbling the soft gurgling language of newborns. She had worried if she would not survive this endeavor. She had often feared that she would somehow lose her baby before he could come to term. But he was there, and he was beautiful.

The fine hairs already on his head were wisps of strawberry-blonde.

"His eyes have not opened," Khan said, "But his hair is already different from the others."

"I know," Marla replied. Every child that had been born before the prince, children of pure-Augments, had all been born with pale Caucasian skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. It was considered a strange and very poor side-effect from the genetic tampering. In spite of these discrepancies, though, each child did carry facial characteristic from their parents, though it would be some time before any other similarities to their parents would be evident.

The fact that Marla's son, with a hint of the red-hair of her own ancestry, was different could very well prove to be something good. A different gene-pool for their growing kingdom.

"Hello, my little miracle," Marla whispered to the infant in her arms. She kissed his forehead, and then smoothed her thumb gently over the back of the baby's head. "Prince Joaquin."

"A strong name for a strong prince," Khan said with approval. He sat beside Marla in their bed of pelts, and he stroked one finger over his son's rose-colored cheek. "Prince Joaquin Ajit Singh."

"Ajit?" Marla asked.

"'Invincible'," Khan clarified. "The invincible lion, established by God."

"Now that _is_ a strong name," Marla said with a soft giggle.

"He can bear it." Khan kissed his wife, joining her as she rested with their child.

The prince's first year of life went by so quickly, it spun Marla's head. He played with Suzette's son, Ethan Joaquim Weiss, in the house built from sod, and Marla loved both children with all of her heart. She made sure, when she was left in the settlement while Khan and others hunted, that both infants were watched carefully, and when Suzette had to accompany Khan, she was often seen carrying both boys in her arms.

She would never have another child of her own, again, but she didn't worry about that fact any more. With a healthy and darling son to raise and her best friend's child to help care for, Marla didn't feel as if she was being deprived at all. They were perfect, and that was enough.

And of course, for Khan and Marla, there was still passion. After she had recovered from her delicate surgeries, and in between the daily care of both the colony and their child, there were stolen kisses, brief but heated brushes of skin. When the young prince did sleep in his wooden crib, the Emperor and his bride had silent moments of desire that they indulged in. Marla could never get enough of her husband, and even with her scars, _he_ could never stop wanting her.

With such happiness, how could anything different be expected for all the days to come?

* * *

She sat with her son, the boy just going on to fifteen months old, and already showing that he had inherited his father's height. She brushed at his fine, pale curls, and looked up from where they sat outside of their little house. She looked up at the stars, while Khan, utilizing the glow of the large fire-pit and torches perched around the camp, wrote down furiously in a leather-bound book.

"Up there in the sky," Marla said to the little prince, "Are many, many other races of people Some are peaceful. Some aren't."

"All inferior," Khan murmured. She shushed him, but smiled.

"There are so many planets," Marla said to the baby, "And suns and moons. We came from a place far away, and now this planet is all your own. But someday I'll tell you about all of the others, my love."

"You should take him to bed," Khan observed, though he didn't take his eyes from the pages he wrote on.

"I am." She stood, and glanced once more at the night's sky. A flicker just in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her eyes to the bright orange orb of Ceti Alpha VI.

Its outer rim flared brighter than ever, slowly causing the darkness to retreat.

"Khan," Marla said, feeling the panic that was plain in her voice. "Khan, look up! Now!"

He lifted his own head up and stood. The book in his lap fell to the ground and he took quick steps to Marla's side. They watched together as their planet's sister emitted a light so bright that soon, the night seemed to have transformed into day. The planet's crust came apart, exposing the red volcanic mantle and bright white core. Within seconds that very core ignited, becoming a starburst that expanded out in every direction.

Neither spoke as the phenomenon occurred, but as the light died, Marla asked, "Khan, what does this mean?" Ceti Alpha VI was only twenty-one million kilometers away.

"This…bodes ill," Khan said softly. Dread was etched on his strong features.

As the light above began to fade, the world around them was filled with the sounds of the local animals, birds, mammals, and many others, crying out in howls, roars, and squeals of panic and fear. Marla held little Joaquin tightly to her chest as he added his own wailing to the noise. The sudden sounds caused the men and women of the settlement to begin pouring from their homes, other mothers clutching their own children protectively.

The shrill screams of infants and animals was joined with a deep, thunderous rumbling, like the churning of turbines, until the earth-born sound drowned out all else. The ground beneath then shook, quivered, and as they looked down they saw the cracking begin.

"Not again," Khan breathed. Marla briefly recalled the day he told her about earthquake that had wracked central India in 1993. He had been young and nearly died in the rubble.

He grabbed her by the waist. "RUN!" he yelled at her, managing to make it far from the building that had been their home before the sod structure crumbled and collapsed in on itself.

They had trouble keeping to their feet, and it was not only Marla and Khan, but the other colonists. As men and women ran in the pandemonium, they tripped, stumbled, and attempted to grab others racing by for help. As they ran through the settlement, Marla heard a woman shriek, and turned to see Harluf grab for his wife, Karyn, as she fell back against one of the torches, and her clothes caught fire.

"Khan!" Marla yelled, but he pulled her on.

"I want you and Joaquin safe!" he called to her over the deafening rumble.

"My Lord! My Lady!" Suzette appeared, clinging little Ethan to her side. They were soon joined by Gideon, Liam, Zuleika, and their families.

"Begin herding all the people to the caves," Khan said.

"What if the quake makes them collapse?" Suzette asked.

"The limestone will hold better," Liam told them, "But only in the larger caverns!"

"We've no other options, then!" Khan urged Marla toward Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. McPherson, and said, "Go with them! Guide all of the other women and children to the tunnels."

"Come back to me," Marla cried as she reached one hand out to grab his shoulder, not only for emphasis, but to help her stay on her feet as the earth shook harder beneath them.

"I always will," he promised her before letting go. Marla turned to Suzette.

"Give me Ethan," she ordered the other woman. "I'll keep him safe. Follow Khan!"

Suzette didn't hesitate. She handed her son to the Empress and ran after their Leader.

She turned around, taking a few steps before the ground broke open, and a fissure opened like a ravenous jaw before them. Around them they all saw as cracks and openings appeared and other homes broke apart, like so much dust and dirt. Men, women with children, vanished in each new opening.

Marla looked for a clear path to the rocky mountains that held their protection. "This way!" she finally shouted and ran between each falling house and the growing crevasses, through the violently growing shocks that toppled everything they had worked so hard to make.

As they ran, others joined them. Families, women who carried more than one child at the behest of others, newly pregnant mothers, people limping in pain. Soon, the stars were blotted from the sky and all they had were the torches some managed to grab and carry.

Then the northern sky began to blaze.

The mountains far to the north erupted in to live and furious volcanoes, sending orange and red fire up in the horizon. Marla hoped that they were far enough away from the blazing mountain range to avoid the rain of fire that would come, and the molten avalanches. She also prayed that the closer limestone tunnels wouldn't fill with magma.

As they drew closer, however, they saw that the openings deep underground had already caved in. But an opening, broken apart and made by their excavators, remained clear above.

"Climb!" Marla urged them. "Climb now!" As they began, though, behind her, Pavarti screamed.

"Watch out!" The Indian Augment woman yanked Marla, and the two infants in her arms, away, and was thrown down and crushed beneath a loosened boulder.

"NO! PAVARTI!" Marla wailed. Pavarti's husband attempted to lift the rock from his spouse, handing his child to another couple, only for more rubble to come. The couple ran, and Rodriguez was covered in the rocks, as well.

"This isn't happening," Marla whispered. Another tremor had her pressing herself and the children in her arms against the rock face as more rubble tumbled down. Zuleika had managed to climb up beside her.

"We need to wait until it stops!" the Amazonian guard cried.

"We need to get inside!" Marla countered. She turned and yelled, "Talbot! Climb up!" The man was lithe and quick, and an expert mountaineer, she recalled, among other talents. He climbed up swiftly to the opening. Then pressed against the inner wall as the others below clung to the mountain-side and allowed more debris to fall.

"Hand him up the children! Help the pregnant women up!" Marla ordered those nearest and they began to hand up each screaming child, and the expectant mothers. They stopped only when the danger of crumbling rock appeared. When the more fragile and important of their people were safe, they began guiding the women up. Marla herself refused to enter until Zuleika was pushing her upward.

"Our Lord won't forgive us if you die," the taller Augment woman said as Marla's hand was taken by Talbot and Daniel Katzel, and pulled up in to the opening.

She turned in to look in the cave and called, "Where's my son, Joaquin? Ethan Weiss?"

"Here, My Lady!" Rose, Liam's wife, answered, with three children on her lap and in her arms.

Marla ran over to them and took the two children in her care up again. "Thank you."

"It's our Lord!" Daniel shouted. Marla ran back to the opening to see Khan running toward the limestone mountain. She saw Suzette, Gideon, and the Ericssons. Karyn was burned and Marla felt a deep pang of guilt. Others who were injured- men, women, even two children that she saw- were being led up and handed to the waiting hands of the people in the caves.

But some were missing. Liam? Where was Liam?

Khan was the last to enter, once he was certain that all of his people were inside. Suzette took Ethan from Marla as the Empress asked, "Where is Liam?"

"…Gone," Khan said, panting heavily. "The earth swallowed him." He wrapped his arms around Marla, and led her deeper in to the caves. "Away from the opening! In to the tunnels! Quickly!"

The lower sections of the tunnels, the more easily accessible ones that had crumbled already, had held some of their tools and their unused torches, but deep within the heart of the mountain, their supplies of food, tools, weapons, firewood and other various supplies remained. They kept enough for three months stowed, in preparation for the monsoon seasons.

But for a catastrophe such as this? No one could prepare for this.

They stopped only when the mountain around them shook. At times, they feared the rocks that surrounded them would crumble apart, but by some grand providence, they held, and the remnant of New Chandigarh was able to make it in to the heart of their sanctuary.

Once in the depths of the mountain, their casualties were assessed.

The total of dead was already apparent. While the exact number could not yet be determined, they saw that many children, though saved, were now in the arms of couples who hadn't birthed them. A man cradled a weeping child, as did a handful of women, including Rose MacPherson, who cried with her daughter, Ivy. Marla walked over to the couple that had taken hold of Padma Rodriguez, Pavarti's daughter.

"I can take her," Marla told them, and they handed the little girl to their Empress.

There were just as many injured. Some as light as sprains, which would heal soon, but others suffered from third degree burns from falling in to torches. Marla walked up to the Ericssons. Harluf held his daughter, Astrid, while Gideon wrapped salve coated bandages around Karyn's arms.

"You saw her fall, and you ran," Harluf snarled at her. She stepped back. Khan was immediately at Marla's side.

"I had my own wife and child to see to," Khan told the Norseman sternly. "I came back for you. Would you prefer it if I had not?"

Harluf said no more, but his own pale eyes were full of anger toward the Rulers. Marla shuddered and held the infants she had a little tighter.

Hours passed, interrupted only by death-throws of the planet echoing in their caverns. Much later, in a time she couldn't determine in the torch-lit tunnels, Marla leaned against a storage box beside her husband. She had little Joaquin on her lap, the boy's body nestled to her stomach. Khan held tiny Padma.

"They were loyal and admirable," he said to Marla, of the baby girl's parents. "I am sorry that you had to watch them die."

"…I'm sorry that we lost Liam, too," Marla said, feeling the pain growing in her chest. So many of their friends, their loyal and loved _family_, gone. "He was one of the first people to be my friend, here."

"His insight would have been useful," Khan whispered. Marla looked toward her husband, and saw in his eyes the full weight of his near three-hundred years of life. She reached a hand out and ran her fingers up behind his neck.

"All of our hard work," he said. "Two years of struggle and survival… swept away in a matter of minutes." He turned to look in her eyes. "I could do nothing…"

"This isn't your fault," she told him. She leaned in close to him, her other hand keeping little Joaquin supported. "This was like… Krakatoa, or Pompeii. No one can predict it or take account of it."

His jaw tightened, and she saw the muscles in his neck grow taught.

"Starfleet would," he ground out through his teeth.

Marla sighed. The last remaining symbol of her past, the Lieutenant's silver insignia, hung around her neck on a leather cord. She had refused to let it be thrown away with her old uniform, even now that she wore no other piece of clothing from Earth.

"Khan," she started.

"NO," he snapped at her, glaring at his wife. She saw his eyes taking on the first smoldering of blue fire. "I knew then, and it is confirmed now, by this cataclysm. They never intended for me or my people to live. They martyred your ship for our deaths- and sent us to a doomed planet as a fail-safe against our survival." She could see the vein in the center of his forehead beginning to pulse under his skin.

Marla moved closer to him. She took Padma and settled both babies carefully. "If it weren't for them, I would never have met you," she told him, her voice soft. "They placed _me_ on the _Eden_, and because of that, I found the one person in the entire universe who could ever make me happy." She set her dark red-haired head on his shoulder. "And because they set us together, we have our son. In spite of all their fear and hatred, you've survived. Even now."

He was silent, and she felt his body slackening against hers. Finally his hand rose up and went around her shoulders.

"I could only do so much because of you," he said as he leant his cheek against her head. "I survive because of you."

"Together we can do anything," she told him. "You and I. And our People."

Oh, the pain of their loss, of having seen so many die was still in their hearts, but they took comfort in that fact. She knew it deep within her bones. She, Khan, and their people could persevere if they held strong and worked together, as they had the past two years.

In the face of the cruelty of fate, they would move on.

* * *

AN: I would have more, but such a heavy chapter requires some time to get our bearings. Sorry for the lateness of this arrival, folks. With only four chapters left, while I am itching to write them, I also don't want the story to be over too soon. Again, thanks to those willing to move on with me toward the future, whatever it may bring!


	27. Chapter 27

The first week underground was marked with violent after-shocks, and two cave-ins. The opening they had created, and used to enter the caverns on the day of the cataclysm, had already been blocked by the rubble, and another opening they had hoped to use for escape was cut off to them. By sheer luck and constant vigilance from Suzette's security teams, no one was buried or crushed, but one tunnel, which had stocked precious stored food, did take their ration supplies from three months to two.

They had blankets, thankfully, all stored away after the switch in primary dwelling, and in anticipation for using the caves for the monsoons, but now they were essential. For all the protection they provided the tunnels were absolutely frigid, never going above twelve degrees Celsius. However, multiple families had to huddle together to keep warm, even with the warmth of blankets, and though their immune systems were vastly stronger than those of ordinary humans, some of the Augments began to succumb to disease and fevers.

"Some damn bug," Gideon had said while examining the worst of the fever-stricken Augments. "It won't clear up. Even those antibiotics that were in the med-kits won't knock them out. I don't think that 'Starfleet' ever encountered this disease."

"We did not encounter such a virus before," Khan had said.

"We had ventilation and access to fresh air, then," Gideon countered. "Even in the middle of the monsoons we had some fresh air."

The illness was horrible, but just as devastating was the wounded.

The wounded… Oh there were quite a few. People with burns ranging from mere first-degree to third, from those who had fallen against the standing torches, like Karyn Ericsson, and in to the large fire-pit. There were some with broken legs, suffered from falling houses or debris from the quakes. Their population had dwindled to fifty eight men and women, in total, not counting the lost children who perished with their parents. Other young ones, who were orphaned, had been quickly taken in to new families who were willing to keep them.

Marla, herself, refused to give up little Padma, thus she and Khan earned something of a daughter in that week. She kept both Joaquin and his new adopted sister close to her. While others tended to the ill and the injured (even her husband, who would go to each patient and whisper encouragements, such as 'Take heart. We shall see through this trial.'), Marla and two other women helped as caretakers to the infants. None of the young ones had gotten sick, thankfully, but they were the most precious of their people, and Marla felt deep affection for each one as she visited the families and aided the mothers and fathers with their children in keeping them clean and fed.

The seventh night in the caves, Khan returned to her looking hallow. He had not slept since the first night, and he seemed as if just these past hours had aged him by ten years.

"Hans Steiber's leg grew gangrenous today," he told her as he sat down slowly on the stone floor. "Gideon required my assistance in removing and disposing of the diseased leg."

Hans had been a financer, Marla recalled, a businessman and very crafter money-launderer. Khan had told her that he hired the man to be a private accountant. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"We need to get out of these caves," Khan told her. "But I cannot risk the possibility of another tremor. We must wait for them to pass entirely."

"We didn't have one today," she offered. "Maybe it's over?"

"I fear our trials are not over," Khan said to her, his voice a deep but soft whisper.

Marla said as she walked up to him and placed her hand against his broad back. "We'll wait until the tremors are definitely over, as you said. Then we'll get out of here."

He turned around, and took her in to his arms. It was as if her words, simple agreements and support, had renewed him. She kissed his cheek. He stroked one hand over her hair.

"Tell me about the children," he said to her. He likely needed a distraction, a good one, and she was willing to give it to him.

* * *

They waited for another two days to pass, to ensure that the aftershocks had, indeed, stopped. Then Khan took Suzette, Gideon, Harluf, and a few others among the healthy, to go outside.

"I want to go with you," Marla said to her husband as he strapped is knives to his belt. She was holding Joaquin, who hadn't been able to sleep as well as Padma, who lay nearby with Ethan Weiss, swaddled in the furs and blankets that were used for a bed.

"And who will watch over the others?" he asked her. "The mothers and their children? The sick? You cannot leave our own children alone."

"I know," she said. She ran one hand over his arm. "Be careful."

His only answer was a kiss to her lips and another to the top of their son's head. Then he left.

She let out a sigh and sat beside the other infant in her care, and gently rocked her son in her arms. Zuleika, she knew, was right outside, left to help Marla keep others safe while the others were gone, but she still felt useless. She knew as Empress she needed to be as strong as Khan, but she had not made very good choices thus far.

She blamed herself for the colony's current plight. The caves were her discovery, and she had been the first to suggest using them as shelter for disasters. She never thought something on _this_ scale would be a reason for them to take to them, but she should have thought of more than hard, month-long rains. She should have considered earthquakes, or other such natural events.

_This wasn't natural. You said yourself it was unpredictable._

_I should have still predicted it._

She looked down at her son, who was still agitatedly fussing in her arms. "I'm so sorry," she said to him. "You deserve so much more, my beautiful little prince… But Mommy will do everything she can to make it better for you."

Hardly an hour passed before the sound of thunder and a quiver went through the walls of the tunnels. She jumped from her seat as Joaquin let out a wail.

"Zuleika!" Marla called. The Amazon heeded her Empress and ran in. "Pick up Ethan," she ordered her, and the taller woman obeyed.

"Was that another tremor?" Zuleika asked her as they left the small alcove that Marla's family used for a home. She looked at the frightened faces of those left behind, all coming from their own dwellings in the caves.

"I don't know," Marla answered. "But I hope Khan and the others are all right." She looked around. "Everyone, out here! Wait three hours, and then return to your homes." They all gathered together, waiting for any more trembling or for the source of the initial one. But after the requisite hours passed, they all eased and returned to their sanctuaries. Eventually she got all three children in her care to fall asleep.

The day was nearly gone when Khan and his party returned. He entered their alcove, drenched in wet, brown water, and the first thing she noticed was his right hand.

"Oh, God, what happened?" she exclaimed, taking his hand by the wrist. It had been bandaged, she saw, and she could see that it was staining red, though the rest of the wrappings looked freshly applied.

"We had to clear out the upper tunnels," he explained. "By the end, everyone was so weary that we could not break through the rocks blocking us with our own strength." They had both worried that over-rationing after the loss of a month's food would be hard on their people. Too late to change that, unfortunately.

"I had to use Suzette's phaser," he told Marla.

"Jesus, Khan, you overloaded it?"

"I needed it to cause a blast powerful enough to clear our way."

"We all thought it was another aftershock," she sighed as she stepped back, running her hands through her hair. "You could have gotten killed!"

"Do not question my choices," he said sternly. "It was that, or wait another day. Time was of the essence." He pulled a small bundle out from his coat.

"This was all I could recover from our home," he told her. He pulled from his coat the books he had been keeping, and the handful of data-disks he had once kept for recording their colony's progress. "There were also weapons and tools, in other homes, but… little else."

She nodded, and helped him pack away the items.

"The animals are dying," he continued. "We will need to harvest their scant meat and their skins."

"What is this mud?" she asked him.

"The skies were dark. I thought it was night again, though it should have been day. This… fell instead of rain." Marla thought about his words.

"Nuclear winter," Marla told him. "During the Third World War, the clouds were so thick for just a month that the resulting fallout killed millions and the food-chain took a heavy blow."

He shook his head at the thought. Then he pressed his hand to his forehead. "The volcanoes? Possibly a meteorite?"

She shuddered. They had both seen Ceti Alpha VI explode, so it wasn't unheard of. But she prayed that wasn't it. "I hope not," she told him. "Mass-extinction is the last thing we need."

Khan shut his eyes. She knew what he was feeling. For all that she hadn't seen it with her own eyes; she could still sense it in her bones. She walked up to him and held him tightly.

"Everything else was gone?" she asked him.

"Yes."

Her lower lip quivered. "All of our work…" she pressed her face to his chest, and felt his arms squeeze around her tightly. He sighed and nuzzled at her hair.

"Grieve," he told her. "Go on and grieve, my love… We have all felt this loss today," he told her as he let her cry.

"This is my fault," she said against him, her body beginning to shudder. "God, I shouldn't have brought you here! I'm the reason we're suffering." If only she had known! If only she had thought to look for another planet, anywhere else.

He pulled back, gripping her shoulder with his good hand. "No, my love, look at me," he ordered her, but she didn't obey. He shook her. "Look at me!" he growled. She did, this time.

"You said that I could not have predicted this, and neither could you," he said to her. "You could not have known that such devastation would befall us, and you never could have prevented or prepared for it. Certainly not then… Never blame yourself for this."

She bit on her bottom lip, and dropped her head again. "Khan, I…"

"Shhh," he urged her, stroking now at her cheek. "We will survive, yes? Together we can do anything- _your_ words. We will rebuild, rise from the ashes, and we will make what we can of this changed world."

Slowly, Marla nodded her head. Yes, she had said it herself, and she would never stop believing that. She grabbed his unburned hand and said, "You need to rest, first. I'll help re-dress your hand when you need it." He gave her fingers a small squeeze and they retired for the evening.

* * *

The surface was no longer habitable. As the months passed by, and Khan led party after party in every direction, this became clear. The winds steadily picked up, causing grit and the disintegrating earth to blow around them, while the clouds remained dark and thick. Even with blankets to shield them, their eyes were damaged when they spent too long in the open, and any exposed skin became cracked and bled. A search to the north, six days away, they recovered cooled obsidian rock that they refashioned in to coverings for their faces. They made gloves with the last recovered animal skins they picked up before all but a few scant lizards and insects had died away.

Their time together was growing shorter and shorter, though. Khan's need to find a new place for them, or at least a new source of water (as the once might river had dried up before three months had passed by) took him away from her for longer and longer periods of time. Five months since they had retreated to the caves, they returned from what had once been the great Jungle, carrying with them items Marla had never thought she would see again. New generator and engine parts.

"Is that… Khan," she said, watching the party who had accompanied him carting in the lights, the sheets of metal.

"The shuttle you piloted," he told her. Suzette and Talbot carried in with them two of the three cryo-tubes. When all the recovered items were placed in one of the unused caverns, Marla approached the empty tubes, and a flood of memories came back to her. She touched one, and something in her made her feel that the one she was in front of her had once been Khan's.

"Do you remember when we first landed?" she asked him.

"I did not trust you then," he told her.

"And I was just an awe-struck little feather-brain," she told him.

"No," he countered, walking up to her and placing his gloved hand on her back. "You were trusting, and loyal, though I kept you at arms-length." He leaned in to her. "And fearless. Even with your life in my hands- entirely at my mercy- you showed no hesitation or fear. That intrigued me, and still does, for you show such strength in spite of what we face every day."

Khan kept his right hand covered even when in their caves. Even after skin had regrown, his scarred palm and fingers had lost the sense of touch. Marla thought perhaps he felt shame, or grotesque, for having a hand like that. She would never let him feel that. She turned around and took that hand, and carefully removed the glove. It was still red, but she remembered the strength it held. She kissed the palm, even though he did not feel the sensation, and placed it to her cheek.

"My life's always been in your hands," she told him. "I wouldn't trust it to anyone else."

He cupped her chin with his left hand. "I will find us a better home, my love. I swear it." He pulled back, and then reached for one of the knives at his side.

"I have an important mission to do, soon, my dear, and I fear that I and Suzette will be unable to keep you fully protected. And, I believe, it is time that I returned this to you."

He handed her the bone-dagger that he had made for her a few short years ago. She looked at it, and felt her heart grow heavy.

"Khan… I can't," she said.

"I need your strength and fearlessness, now," he told her. "I do not know how long I shall be away, but I need you to be my eyes, ears, and voice while I am gone. I also need you to keep yourself, our children, and our people, safe." He placed the dagger in her hands, then, pulled her to him. "You have always trusted me, even when I did not deserve it. I shall trust you, now, my dear wife."

She held on to him, not wanting to let go of him, but he was right. They needed to find more possible resources, or else they would all die. It hurt her down to her core, but if he needed her to be strong and fearless, she would be.

Their second great search sent him to the west, where the river had once naturally flowed. It was the longest he had been gone, and every day that passed by made Marla miss him deeply. Khan, Suzette, Harluf, Talbot, and the cartographer Debra VonLinden, went with him on the long journey. But while she worried for her husband, she had a job to do.

As Empress of Fatalis- the newly christened name for their underground kingdom, chosen to remember the first animal they encountered on the planet- she had to keep an eye on all of their citizens, and resolve disputes, as well as comfort the ill, and the grieving. And there was much grieving in that time. They discovered to their horror that, with the death of the other animals on the planet, the ever deadly Eels had found their way back in to the caves, seeking out the last life on the planet. The parasites claimed five other adults, and three children. It had been heartbreaking to take the infants' bodies from their parents and to place them in the fertilizer pit.

When they had recovered the lights from the last of the shuttles, they also took the engines and various other machinery to create something of a heating-lamp to come as close to sunlight as possible. Then, using the seeds and roots from their stored up edible plants, they managed to plant them in the cave-moss and created a small, underground green-house. It might not last for more than a few years, if the venture worked at all, but they hoped to find some way of keeping sustainable food. And to help grow these plants, they needed a form of fertilizer. Thus, all waste, refuse, and even the dead, were placed in a deep and stinking mound of compost.

The surviving populace found homes far from that place, of course, and they did their best. An infirmary was kept for those who still suffered from diseases, or who became injured during the scouting and foraging trips. But it was harder each time that someone was brought in with symptoms that marked them as a victim to the Eels. So much so that Khan had given Marla and Gideon very devastating orders before he left.

While Khan was gone to seek out the ocean, eight months after the cataclysm, Marla overheard Gideon and Zuleika fighting amongst themselves. Marla knew that Zuleika was feeling the burden of being named as Suzette's replacement for Head of Security in the caves, and missing her own husband, and that Gideon had a massive task on his hands as well. She went up to the two whom she still called friends.

"What's going on? Why are you fighting?" she demanded of them, shoulders squaring as she called up as much power she could to exude authority.

"She's trying to steal vital resources from my patients!" Gideon said.

Zuleika snorted. "Dead-men, you mean. The Security detail needs it to keep patrolling this place for those parasites. Most of your 'patients' already have one foot in the grave, and they can't do anything to help us survive."

"They're not all terminal," retorted the doctor. "Most are just suffering from exhaustion and malnutrition- which more rations and water would help with! Their recovery's impeded with restrictions, and it doesn't make things better with your 'Security' taking it. We're not even at war with anyone here!"

"We're at war with those damn Eels!" Zuleika countered. "And you know that better than anyone. If the rest of us are groggy from hunger, then we can't keep combing these tunnels for those disgusting things, and that means more lives lost."

_God, no wonder the Eugenics Wars were so terrible. _She hated to think so of two people she cared for, but their ego-clashing proved why their race had had such trouble. Maybe that was why Khan trusted her to keep them all in check.

"Stop it!" Marla snapped at them both. They silenced immediately. She looked between the doctor and ex-assassin. "Look, maybe we can reach a compromise."

"I won't compromise where my patients' care is concerned," Gideon said.

"You'll have to," Marla told him, her voice as stern and as solid as she could make it. "Medical and Security aren't the only ones strapped for resources. Everyone is feeling the strain, and we can't help it. We have childcare," a few infants had been born while in Fatalis, and keeping the newborns safe, as well as the older babies, was a daunting task shared among many, now. "As well as farming, water-gathering, and other groups that we need to function… And we can't survive if we're divided like this."

Gideon sighed, "My Lady, don't make me kill _all_ of my patients," he begged her. They both knew what he meant. When it became clear that the direness and utter depression caused by their circumstances impeded the Augments' abilities to fight off the Eels that infested their brains, Khan had given both his wife and the doctor the order to have those 'weakened' by the parasites euthanized. '_It will be more merciful_' He had rationalized, but it still tore at the heart of the doctor, and at Marla, who had to watch as familiar faces were put to death.

She knew that Zuleika had a point, too. It would only increase the likelihood of fatality if the Security teams couldn't fully keep them safe from the Eels. So she let out a long breath.

"Here's what I propose," she told them. "Gideon, I know that you hate it. I do to. But I'm sorry. You'll need to perform triage more strictly, and cut rations on those least likely to survive by thirty percent."

"Thirt- Are you serious!? That's barbaric! I thought you cared!" he yelled.

"Don't question me!" she shouted back. He actually looked surprised. "I am your Empress, and while your Emperor, my husband, is away, _my_ word is _law_. You'll do this, Gideon. Besides, we live in caves. Barbaric is standard."

She turned her attention to Zuleika, then. "As for you, in exchange for the increase in rations, you and the rest of Security have to make the infirmary a higher priority, and you must sweep the main grotto and every side-chamber every forty-eight hours."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Zuleika stared at the smaller woman. "We can't do forty-eight hours! We're already awake nearly twice that long!"

"Take it or leave it," Marla told her. "Or would you both rather take this matter to Khan, and explain to him why you would not listen to your Empress while he was gone?"

"If he returns," Zuleika muttered.

Marla's eyes narrowed and she gripped the hilt of her dagger. She took a step toward the Amazon. "_When_ he returns. Don't you _ever_ doubt that, again. You're my friend and guard, Zuleika, but don't forget what I did with that rock, and what I can do with this knife, now."

Zuleika only returned that stare for a minute before she looked away. "Forgive me, My Lady."

Marla merely nodded, and walked away from the Augments. As she passed through the tunnels she heard a few greetings made to her, and she returned them as she could.

Other things were said as she passed, too. Those known to spend more time with the Ericssons usually ignored her, but on occasion, she could hear whispers of, 'Inferior', and 'Whore'.

She heard someone mutter, "If it weren't for her we'd still be sleeping."

_Oh, love, I don't know how long I can do this without you,_ she thought.

She shut her eyes and went on to her alcoves and checked on the children, relieving one of their guards. She sat beside Joaquin, who was now able to say a few words.

"Mama!" the growing toddler said, a smile on his face. She returned that sweet smile to him, and picked him up. She patted on the little boy's back.

"Mama's here, darling," she cooed to him.

"Dada?" he asked her.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not yet. Not yet, sweetheart. But Daddy will come home soon."

_Please, come home, soon_, she silently begged. Padma started to stir from her nap, and Ethan let out a soft cry. She turned to each child and drew them close to sooth the little ones.

_Come back to me, soon, Khan. Come back to _us.

* * *

AN: Well, lookit! I made a chapter for you guys! Heh, I caught a bug and ended up having another day added to my off-days. I hope that this chapter will help you all get by until the next one. Three more to go!


	28. Chapter 28

AN: The end is drawing closer my friends…

As always, I own nothing. Some situations and description from _To Reign In Hell_ may be borrowed or called upon here. _Star Trek_ is not mine, neither are the quotes (indirect and direct alike) from _Paradise Lost_, which is John Milton's work.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

With heavy steps, feeling the weariness of the last two months seated upon his back like a yoke, he approached the stone mountains that hid the rest of his people from the sun's unrelenting glare. In the time since he had first set out for the sea, the black clouds that had once covered the land had dissipated, and the earth had begun to lose every semblance of greenery and plant life, withering in the intensified heat of the sun. Ceti Alpha V was turning in to a wasteland. And he had searched it many times hoping to bring his people out of the misery that had befallen them.

Instead he had only found confirmation of their damnation here.

What had begun as a party of five now saw only three members coming home from the search for the sea. Suzette Ling, ever enduring and ever loyal, had managed to survive their journey. Harluf Ericsson, to his displeasure, had also managed to come home with them. Debora and Talbot had been claimed by the horrors and new dangers that waited in the world.

They climbed up, slowly, weakly to the nearest opening in the limestone, even as Khan heard the guards at the opening call out through the tunnels.

"Our Lord has returned!"

He sighed behind his obsidian visor and pulled his body up in to the mouth of the cave, assisted by one of the guards. Daniel, ever true in his devotion to the Emperor, clasped his wrist and pulled him in to the mouth of the caves.

"Welcome back, My Lord," said the younger man. As he helped Suzette and Harluf climb up, Khan began to remove the heavy cloth covering his head (called a kaffiyeh), and lifted the volcanic rock from his face.

"Where is the Empress?" he asked Daniel.

"I sent Tory to find her," the other man answered.

Khan straightened his back. He needed to keep his composure. He needed his people to see him strong, still.

The sounds of footsteps echoed from deep within the tunnels, and soon he heard the familiar gait of his bride as she ran to meet him, long before he saw her familiar silhouette. Time in the darkness had begun to dull the auburn tresses again, but the fire that lay inside of her still shone through in her face, and as she became clear in the light outside that filtered through the opening, Khan felt his heart, burdened and heavy these past months, lift again.

_My beacon of light in the darkness. The last true haven of anything good that this world can give to me._

Marla was followed by Zuleika, and Harluf's wife, Karyn. The Empress nearly leapt upon Khan as he opened his arms to take her in to his embrace. Her arms went over his wide shoulders and wrapped around him tightly. He could feel her body thrumming against him as she breathed heavily from her sprint up to meet him. He closed his eyes and let her cling to him as he held her possessively up against his body.

"Oh God, I missed you," she breathed heavily in to his ear. He pressed his lips against her temple. Inhaled, taking in her scent.

His eyes opened and he saw Zuleika standing back, looking bereft, and woeful. Perhaps there was resentment, too? She looked at him, and asked, her voice tight, "Where is _my_ husband, my Lord?"

Khan loosened his hold on Marla, and he stepped aside from her. He had dreaded this the moment Talbot had vanished in to the heavy, blinding clouds of sand, but he had to say it. He grieved for the woman, and her loss, as well as the loss of a loyal follower.

"I… am deeply, and truly sorry, Zuleika, but he is gone," he told her. The tall, former model and cold-hearted assassin stepped back, and he watched her break down. This woman had shed blood (even the blood of men she had seduced at Khan's own behest, for his own political gains) and she had fought beside him as a strong and unrelenting soldier. She had seen many comrades die in the line of fire, and merely stepped over them to fight on. Now she was crumbling before his eyes in grief.

In this instance, it was only natural, and he understood her pain.

Marla, ever compassionate, walked over to the Augment woman, and placed her hand on Zuleika's shoulder. The taller woman flinched and attempted to hide her face as she left them all, going back in to the tunnels. As Marla stepped to follow, Khan caught hold of his wife's arm.

"Not yet. Her pain is fresh. Let her grieve as she needs to," he said.

She turned her head. "But she's my friend," Marla countered. "I can't leave her alone!" He saw tears welling in her brown eyes.

_Always thinking of others before yourself_, he thought. _My selfless and empathetic queen._

Suzette weaved around them. "I'll talk to her. She's my Secondary Detail leader, after all." As Suzette disappeared in to the shadows of the tunnels, Khan pulled Marla to him. Harluf and Karyn stepped up behind them.

Khan didn't look back. Harluf had been taken along in the beginning to keep the man from causing any unrest within the remaining colonists here. He did admit to himself that a part of him wanted the man to be killed by the harsh conditions in the world outside, but that had not happened. Far more noble and good people had been lost, instead, and it galled at Khan to know that this man had come back with him out of the wastes.

Khan said quietly to Marla, "I want to see the children. Take me to them." She nodded and led him, breaking away after many twists and turns in labyrinthine stone corridors that were lit with the very last of the wood recovered long ago. They had to be careful of the use of such items. Perhaps in time they could find other sources for light, and thus not waste their electricity from the salvaged shuttle engines.

Past the curved opening to their dwelling, they entered the first of two alcoves. One Khan had used for a personal 'study' of sorts, where, before he had left, he would continue cataloguing the rations and daily rotations for guards and listed the births and deaths of Fatalis's citizens. The other was, for now, a familial bedroom. Furs and blankets lined the floor and it was swept and checked hourly for any Eels that might have crept in. Here, with the guard Tory watching over them, waited the three babes that Marla had been watching over since Khan had set out on his fruitless quest.

They dismissed the guard, and Marla knelt beside the children. Ethan, Suzette's son, had little of his mother's Asian structure in either face or frame (though at barely two years in age, this could change. Khan doubted this, of course). No, the boy already held resemblance to his father, in spite of the pale skin and hair that his people's offspring carried. Ethan grabbed a hand up to Marla, and she returned his small, seeking fingers with her own hand, and gently hooked two fingers in to the child's hold.

Padma Rodriguez, with her mother's full mouth and her father's wide eyes, looked up at Khan and she let out a soft squeal. Marla turned to the girl and picked her up.

"Yes," she said to the cheerfully squealing baby. "He's back."

"Dada!" the voice that called out caused Khan's chest to ache, though this pain he could bear. He bent down and picked up his son, Joaquin Ajit, and kissed his snow-white forehead. He ran his gloved hand over his son's back, and let the little boy continue his litany of infant babble and high-pitched giggles.

"I missed you, as well, my son," he whispered warmly to little Joaquin, as the baby reached to take hold of Khan's dark hair. It hung loose and uncovered, now, and the child's grasp was not too firm, yet, but already far stronger than the average toddler's.

Khan still marveled at the miracle of his own child. This boy, born though every statistic he had ever known said it was improbable, and with half of his DNA coded from a woman lacking genetic enhancement and alteration, had come in to this world alive, healthy, and strong. He thought, perhaps, that the fact that Marla's genetics were not augmented was the reason why, though it was still far paler, Joaquin's hair still held shades of red among the golden-wheat strands. Khan also saw more of the boy's mother's features than his own. No strong nose, no harsh angles, and no sharpness to his cheekbones under the baby-fat. Though the boy would be tall, someday, in every other facet, he suspected that Joaquin would very much be his mother's son.

_That may be more fitting_, he thought as he moved his hand up to pet over Joaquin's hair. _A Superior heir, with my strength and his mother's heart. His people will adore him as much as they will respect him._

Khan looked down at Marla, and he asked, "Are the plants growing well?"

"Yes," she answered, eyes still on Padma, who now rested in Marla's lap, while Ethan reached up to tug at Marla's hair. "And there's still water left, but the river's drying up more and more, every day."

"…In the west it is already barren," he told her.

Her eyes turned up to him, then. "What about the ocean? Is it gone too?"

Suzette's return interrupted his answer. He was no coward, but Khan did not want to discuss what he had seen yet. He wanted some comfort before he was forced back in to the harsh reality around them.

_A modicum of hope and peace is all I ask for._

When Suzette and her son left them, and long after, when Padma and Joaquin lay in quiet slumber, Marla stood to retrieve one of Khan's books from his study. She handed it to him.

"I know you usually write them down, but I did it while you were gone," she told him as he looked at the book. This one entailed the population, losses and additions. He sighed and opened the book up to the last place he had marked, and saw Marla's own writing inside of it. Using small twigs (not good enough for kindling) and the ground shells of grown Ceti Beetles for ink, there were new names, and dates, added to those who had died.

"Most are from Eel attacks. Khan, we tried to tell them that if they fought, it'd work, but…" Her voice trailed off.

He said nothing as he closed the book and returned it to the stacks of others.

"They were tired," she rationalized. "And… Khan, it's harder for some to believe that it'll get better. And we've lost so many. I can see why some of them couldn't see the point in fighting. But-"

"There is no refuge in the sea," he confessed. He brought his unscarred hand up and covered his eyes with it. Dipped his head down.

"What?" she asked.

"After we had crossed through the wastes, we found the ocean, and thought that we had found our salvation," he told her. He dropped his hand, and then leaned against the stone wall. "But I saw no life in the water. No sign of fish or other aquatic creatures, no algae growing on the rocks. No salt deposits- _Nothing!_" he snarled the last word, and he felt his shoulders drop. Allowed his back to bow. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes.

"Debora had begun to despair… When she saw the water, she was _so_ overjoyed… She dove head-first in to it and… Instantly cried out in pain." He could still see it. The horrific image of a once powerful, intelligent, and beautiful sister Augment as she had died. Still heard the shrieks, and her pleas as the water around her turned red. "Her flesh melted from her bones. The sea has become pure acid."

Marla crossed to him, and pressed herself against him, holding him as she had when he had first returned. He pulled her up to him, and then slid their combined bodies to the floor. He buried his face in her hair. Then her neck.

"There is no escape. We are trapped in _Hell_," he ground out. Marla shook her head gently and she pulled back enough to run her hands over his face, and his hair. She kissed his brow, and then pressed her own to it.

"I'm sorry," she said to him. "I know, it's hard, and it is so hateful and so wrong." He felt her breath against his face as she spoke, and he let her continue to caress and soothe him with her gentle touch. "But I know we can survive. We've been through so much- we'll make it through this."

He looked in to her eyes, and he was suddenly seized with need. The need for her gentleness, for her sympathy, and the need for the body that he had missed desperately during his long sojourn to the useless sea.

"I will never give up," he told her as he pushed her down against the cave's floor. He took her mouth; hungrily took hold with lips and teeth, and he tugged at clothing.

"I know," she mumbled in between the demanding kisses. She pushed at him, and pulled her mouth away, turning her head. "You'll wake the-"

"We can be quiet," he said, his voice deep but hushed as he moved his mouth against her skin, and began to rearrange their garments until flesh could meet flesh and he felt her warmth envelope him. Heard her sigh and choke back a moan in to her throat.

After he had fulfilled the abrupt moment of desire, and they were properly dressed and lay in the family bed with the sleeping children, he watched Marla sleep. He marked time with only the gentle rise and fall of her chest, while she kept one arm around the children, keeping them warm and protecting them even in slumber.

This woman was still remarkable to him. She had managed to keep Fatalis in relative peace while keeping these precious little ones safe. She had made difficult decisions that he knew had tasked her, and grieved her, yet remained strong. And though he had brought home to her grave news, she still had shown him compassion and faith. Her faith, her words and thoughts, and her loyalty drew him closer to her, and made him desire to keep her at his side.

_How can I live without thee? How forgo thy sweet converse and love, so dearly joined?_

Thinking on Adam's words of love to Eve, as written by Milton, he realized then how alike Marla was to the first Woman, as told in the Judeo-Christian religion. A creature made to be the full and perfect help-mate to Man, who succumbed to temptations and was removed from grace and perfection.

Marla, however, had been cast from paradise not once, but twice. Though the first was her choice, the second was not, and he found that to be unacceptable. She didn't deserve to be living on this dying ball of dust and rock and heat. To have her devotion and her goodness repaid so cruelly. She should have so much more. And yet he could not bear the thought of being in this constant nightmare without her.

_No, no I feel the link of nature draw me. Flesh of flesh- bone of my bone, thou art. And from thy State, mine _never_ shall be parted, bliss or woe._

She _did_ deserve better. So, too, did their son. He did not want his son to grow up in such a forsaken place. Did not want Joaquin to inherit this planet as his kingdom. However, as Khan had told his wife, he would _not_ give up. This need to give them both a better life than what they had been given made him more determined to fight against the circumstances that Starfleet had flung them all in to. It fueled his determination, as well as his contempt.

_You fearful, hating, scheming fools, I will not let you conquer me and mine_, he vowed silently in the darkness. _I shall show you that the Superior Man never bends before the cruelties of fate, no matter how hopeless the odds. Let this entire planet die a slow and miserable death. Let Starfleet forget us entirely. I will keep my family, and all of my people alive - this I swear upon my sacred honor._

_We _**will**_ survive._

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

Five years, as such was counted on Ceti Alpha V, passed by since their sister planet exploded, and their own world throw in to chaos and destruction. The once green, beautiful lands and abundant rivers had dried up, leaving the surrounding landscape an arid place. Windblown gravel and sand blinded those who left the safety of the caves, whenever their people went out in search of water, coal, or the few lizards that remained crawling in the dust and dirt.

The sun, filtered a muddy brow through the sand clouds, beat down so strong and forceful that only the enhancement of their genetics kept the Augments from blistering and burning. Even through their protective coverings, they were still browned and darkened by the sun whenever they ventured out. Granite formations, eroded by time and winds and sand, came up among the shifting sand dunes.

To the far north, black snowless peaks broke the skyline. Massive saltpans covered the north-east leading to a deep gorge that had been discovered only a few months before (the Azar Gorge, named for the Persian born geologist who had discovered it while looking for coal). The gorge, a deep wound in the planet, had uncovered a hidden hot-spring and opened up geysers that spewed steam and hot, but clean water. The place was three days away (a total of six days needed for each trip to the gorge and back), but it was their nearest source of water, and the coal found in the surrounding lands gave them the fuel for their fires.

Much of what she knew of the world outside was only told to her through word-of-mouth, of course. Marla couldn't leave the caves anymore because the sun could destroy her skin- possibly burn her fatally. She was more knowledgeable of the tunnels, now, anyway. She knew their twists and turns, and which families lived where. She knew where the infirmary was, the nursery when babies were born (and some still managed to be born, even now. Life could not be stopped), and she knew where the fertilizer pit was located, and which ways to go to avoid the smell.

In the time since their colony had retreated underground, and especially as the children of the colony grew up, she had taken on many roles, aside from the Empress of Fatalis. When the first children born to the planet were able to speak full sentences (just twenty two remained, after deaths from Eels and diseases were factored in, and only twice as many adults remaining after these tragedies), she had become their Teacher.

She used the large gathering room as a school room. It was a cave that had benched carved from gathered obsidian from the volcanoes, where Khan would have meetings with the adults of Fatalis. When Khan did not use it, Marla stood at the forefront of the room and instructed the children.

The children were prodigies- geniuses like their parents- of course. They were quick to learn, and ever demanding of new subjects and fast progression in their courses. Absorbing information that would have taken four Elementary grade years to learn, they were now, at six years old (or around so, as five-year-olds and two four-year-olds had been incorporated in to the 'class') they were well in to learning long division and adding decimals, while being able to write longer, more coherent 'essays' with small charcoal pieces that were too small to burn, and the walls of the room itself. Seeing them all progress caused Marla to feel pride for the young lives in her care.

Padma, growing already in to a very good and caring girl, was always curious about reading, and she couldn't get enough of the history that Marla shared with her. Ethan was quiet, like his father had been, but he was also always eager to hear and know, though he preferred to read. Often Marla found herself asking Khan to borrow the books he had recreated, to give to Ethan to fuel his mind. Astrid Ericsson, though Marla still had reservations about the girl's father, was a rising star in regard to mathematics and puzzles. She was smart beyond her years, and could very well be someone that other children would look up to. Some already did.

Her son, Joaquin, was just as smart as his peers, and always listening and watching. He followed his father's advice every day, and took everything that Khan told him to heart, but he also was attentive to what Marla told and taught him, especially when she gave him the histories of famous kings and military leaders.

Time underground had caused Marla to change not only in her station, but physically, yet again. Her skin tone had decreased in color to a very pale shade, and her hair had darkened again. She never did cut it, but neither did she bind it, so it fell in thick red-brown waves around her shoulders and down her back. Any weight gained long ago in pregnancy had vanished, and while she was still strong from training with Suzette, she was still woefully thinner than what should be healthy.

She wasn't the only one changing. She could not account for any wrinkles or changes in her face (there were no mirrors or other reflective surfaces, after all), but she did see as her husband's appearance changed due to the passage of time, and the changed climate.

When he removed his protective layers of cloth and fur after his expeditions, his skin was darker than ever before. A deep, dark tan from head to foot, with only a few paler places that rarely were uncovered. His scars, on his hand and across his chest, were the only still visibly 'white' skin that he now bore. His hair, once the color of the black volcanic rocks, was not only graying from the stress and strain of his duties as the Emperor , but also from time. She supposed in another five or ten years, he would become a photo-negative of the man she had awoken from sleep when they had first landed. But for all the physical changes, he was still her Khan in every other way: his voice, his commanding presence, his noble and powerful spirit. He was still man who held her heart, and in whom she had complete faith.

The 'school day' had just let up, and Marla had been keeping up with the passage of days. Tomorrow Khan would be home from the gorge, and she had quite a few 'progress reports' to give to him. She always confided in her husband about what happened each day during the lessons.

As she was cleaning up the walls, rubbing off charcoal equations and words with a scrap of cloth, she heard scuffling outside. Heard the voices of the children as some said, "Get him!" and others said, "Stop!"

_Oh God, not again._ Marla dropped the cloth and ran from the room to see her son and Astrid pushing and grabbing for each other.

"Lady Marla!" cried Ivy McPherson, grabbing Marla's hand, "They're fighting!"

"Joaquin!" Marla yelled, moving through her pupils to her son and Harluf's daughter. "Astrid! Stop!" She grabbed both children by their shoulders and tried to pull them apart. Joaquin squirmed and writhed as he attempted to get at the girl.

"She started it!" he yelled angrily. Ethan ran up and helped hold on to the Prince, while Padma grabbed the hand of her adopted brother. This let Marla keep Astrid away from her son.

"What happened?" she asked both children. "I want you to tell me."

"She called you Inferior! She called me an 'abomination!'" Joaquin said, surging again as if to fight more. Marla sighed. Her son carried his father's anger, and that was something she hoped to help him overcome.

"Sweetheart, I-"

"It's true," Astrid said, her lower lip jut out in a pout that should have been endearing or adorable. But with the look on the girl's face, it was simply one of indignant anger. "My daddy said so."

Marla turned to the girl, and knelt to be eye-level with her.

"Astrid, sometimes people say things that they don't mean, or that they think will get them attention. That doesn't make them true," Marla explained to her.

"I'm not stupid," Astrid told her. "I know my daddy means it."

"But do _you _mean it?" she asked Astrid. "You're right. You're not stupid. You're a very smart girl. You need to form your _own_ opinions, with what _you_ see and hear." She straightened up. "Now go on home to your mother, and make sure to do your homework. I won't tell her about this fight- _this time_- as long as you never say things like that again."

Astrid frowned further, but she spun around on her feet and ran down through the tunnels, followed by others. When just Joaquin, Padma, and Ethan remained, she turned her attention to her son.

"And you," she said, "Need to control your temper. I can fight my own battles, sweetheart. I don't need you to fight them for me."

"Bud Daddy does. When the other grownups say it."

She bit on her lip. She hated that her son noticed that, too. How people among the colony _still_ hated her, blamed her for their problems. Yes, she knew Astrid spoke the truth: Harluf still resented and spoke against them. But the man never went beyond words, however poisonous. She took his hand away from Padma, and Ethan let go of him, now.

"I know, but that's different. And when Daddy is gone, I have to take care of myself, or I get help from Zuleika, or Suzette. You're still too young, and you need to remember that you need to use words and reason, not fists and kicking, to solve your conflicts. Understand?"

He nodded solemnly.

"Good. I won't tell your father about this, when he comes home tomorrow," she had told him often enough about Joaquin's fights with Astrid, and Khan seemed to find nothing wrong with him standing up for himself this way. "But, you have to promise not to fight Astrid again. If you break that promise, I'm going to have to take away some of your books."

His face fell. "Really?"

"Yes," she told him. "There are consequences for breaking promises and hurting others, Joaquin."

Padma reached up for Marla's other hand. "He really didn't start it," Padma said softly.

"It doesn't matter," Marla told her. "All actions have consequences." The children all nodded- even Ethan, ever the stoic little boy- and she said, "Now come on. You've all got homework. I'll help you as much as I can, but I do want you to do the work yourselves."

She led them up through the tunnels, and she thought about what these three could accomplish. The three were as thick as thieves, really, and when she watched them, it reminded her of how Khan, Joaquin Weiss, and Suzette had been, when she had first seen them. Friends who knew each other, as well as two loyal followers who trusted and protected their Leader, no matter what. She hoped that someday, with two such devoted friends, and more control on his anger, her own son could be wise and good ruler.

* * *

AN: And there we have it! A new chapter. Thank you all so much for your patience and your diligence. There are two chapters left, and one is an epilogue, so…

I hope that you all can handle what is in store.


	29. Chapter 29

AN: All dialogue or descriptions borrowed from source material, _Paradise Lost, _or _Wuthering Heights_ are not my own, or have been adjusted.

The penultimate chapter, readers, is here…

* * *

_**Marla's POV**_

The return of the water-gathering party was well received, and Marla was happy to have her husband home, again. Though if he was telling the truth, it had been a close call.

"The rock slide would surely have buried me if I hadn't moved away quickly enough. I was fortunate to have Suzette," Khan told her as he wrote down, in his journals, how many liters of water had been collected.

"I'm just glad you came back," Marla said, kissing his sun-browned cheek. "But are you sure it wasn't an accident?"

"Nietzsche once said, 'No one is such a liar as the indignant man'. I know that Ericsson was behind it- or if not him, Austin. I doubt he would have dirtied his own hands if he could help it."

Marla sighed. "I know. But cutting rations?"

"A firm hand is the only way to quell unrest," he told her.

"But for everyone?"

"Fair and equal punishment for all who would not speak the truth," he said. "They brought it upon themselves for not revealing the assassin."

She shook her head, but said nothing. "Hopefully they'll understand, in time."

"I do what I must for myself and my people," he said to her as he turned to look at her. "I must be strong in the face of my enemies, to quell insurrection. I must be stern and resolute in my decisions, lest the people think I am unfit to guide them. Do they not see what I sacrifice for them? What I must do for their benefit?"

She slid her hand over his right arm, down to the edge of the glove that covered his hand. She slowly tugged at the animal hide until it was removed and she could side her fingers between the burned pads of his.

"I know what sacrifices you've made, before," she said. She looked up at him, in to his ice-blue eyes. "I will never forget the things you've done, and in time, they will understand, too."

He drew her hand up to kiss at her finger- the left ring finger, still adorned by the white tusk ring he had carved for her seven years ago.

"There are few who still support me, my love. I can take no chances… But I know that I can always depend upon you."

"I'm not the only one who you can depend on. Suzette's always been with you, and Zuleika. Gideon. And you can't forget the children."

He chuckled softly, "No, you are right, but you I rely upon the most. You ease my mind and soothe my soul."

She felt her cheeks grow warm, and knew they must have been red, even in such dim-light from the coal fueled 'lamps' carved in to the walls of the caves. She pulled his hand back to her chest, and then took a breath.

"I really do need to give you the progress reports on the lessons. I think it's time to move the children up again… And I'm considering adding an extra hour for the three-year-olds to get them started."

"Your day is all but devoted to teaching the children," Khan said, sounding displeased. "You do little else. There are many others in Fatalis who can teach them."

"I want to share with them everything I know, Khan. And I want them to be able to know that while I am the Empress, I am not untouchable. Or better than them. It's the same reason why I have Joaquin and Padma in the classes, too. They're Prince and Princess, but they're still accessible."

He didn't argue with her, but he didn't appear to be convinced. Instead, he said, "Give me the progress reports, then."

She smiled, and disclosed to him everything that had been taught to the children in the past six days, and what she had in mind for the future. Moving on to fifth, sixth, possibly seventh grade material would be good for them. It would also allow the children to start focusing on specified areas of study sooner.

It might make the future of Fatalis brighter.

The next day, Khan had to leave her and Joaquin again. Not for as long as the trips to the gorge, but to sweep the surrounding lands for lizards and other things that could be collected for food. They had managed to keep the meat gathered years ago preserved, and rationed out very, very harshly, but it would run out. They also had plenty of edible roots and Comp Berries grown in their make-shift underground garden (though the change in growing 'soil' and climate had caused the berries and their plants to lose their signature odor, which was an unforeseen blessing). However, they didn't know how long the tubes could keep the remaining meat preserved, nor when it would run out, and there could always be a year when the crops failed due to some bacteria destroying the plants. They needed any back-ups that they could find.

Meanwhile, Marla moved on with her lessons. She started an hour ahead of the usual school schedule, and started to teach the older toddlers the basics of writing and numbers. By the end of the hour-long lesson, most were able to write their names and could go up to the number ten on their own. Very promising. Then she proceeded on to the regular lessons with the older children. The only concern with the class had been that Astrid Ericsson had not shown up for the lesson.

_That's not like her. I may have to go and see about her after class._

All had seemed to go quite well, otherwise, and once she dismissed her pupils, she took hold of Joaquin and Padma's hands, to lead them home to their quarters, Suzette waiting nearby with Ethan. A well spent day, she thought.

_Khan should be home, soon, and then we can work with the children together on their homework_.

_After I see to Astrid._

"My Lady," Karyn called. Marla paused and looked over her shoulder at her. The brown haired Augment woman looked worried. This made Marla's concern about the woman's daughter grow.

"Karyn," Marla said, gently letting go of her children's hands and walking up to her. "I was going to come and see you. Is this about Astrid?" she asked.

"Yes, my Lady," Karyn said. "Last night, she wouldn't work on her homework, and went to bed earlier than usual. When she woke up this morning, she said she didn't want to go to class today. I tried to get her to tell me why, but she refused. Then I tried to at least get her to tell me if it was because of her fights, but she wouldn't say a word."

"Do we need to get Gideon?" Marla asked her. _Please, don't let the Eels have claimed another child. _Astrid was a handful, but Marla was convinced that the girl could be an amazing woman, someday. Especially if she could get the girl and Joaquin to come to a peaceful truce.

"No, I don't think so, but… Could you come and talk to her?" Karyn asked.

"She doesn't always listen to me, Karyn, to be honest," Marla said. "Has her father tried?"

"That's just it… I don't want Harluf to talk to her. Some of the things he says… I don't agree," Karyn told her. "And I don't want his feelings to cloud Astrid's head. And you're her teacher."

Marla nodded. "All right. I'll be right with you."

The Empress walked over to Suzette, and said, "Watch over the kids for me? Get them started on their homework."

Suzette nodded once. "I'll station Zuleika at your quarters if our Lord returns." Marla smiled at her friend, and turned away to follow Karyn down to the lower tunnels.

The roughly hewn apartments for the various families in the lower halls were full of small family groups, each retiring for the day. Some, like Marla's own family, still had some of the children orphaned during the original cataclysm that had steadily destroyed the planet. Some had but a single child, newly born to them, after losing their first to the Eels. Marla glanced around, and knew that the deeper she went in to these halls, the more hated glares she would receive, or the more likely it would be that someone would whisper an insult to her. She straightened her back, however, and kept her head high. Khan had been right- she needed to appear strong if she were to be respected, or at least left alone.

As they came to the opening to the Ericsson's apartments, Marla looked in.

"Astrid?" she called out. From behind her, Karyn stepped up, and within seconds, grabbed hold of Marla's arms, forcing them behind her and locking them in place in a hard and powerful grip, causing Marla to cry out in pain and surprise.

"Do not be too rough, my love," said Harluf as he walked out from one of the adjacent rooms. "We cannot let any bruises be seen, after all."

The wolfish grin on his face caused Marla's blood to run cold. She squirmed and yanked at the hands that held her. She was so stupid! Of course this had been a trap! She should have realized it when Astrid didn't turn up for school.

_I was too careless. She was probably with a baby-sitter the whole time._

"HELP!" Marla screamed. Paul Austin, one of Harluf's friends, came out of the room, as well. Marla continued to squirm and move, and as Austin approached, a scrap of cloth in his hands, she kicked her leg out. It collided with Austin's groin and he snarled, and bent over.

Marla's attack on the man shocked Karyn enough that her grip loosened, and Marla broke free. She pulled her dagger from her sheath, and waved it at the Augment woman.

"How dare you use your child to attack me!" she shouted at them before she turned to flee, but two others, Saraj Panjabi and Amy, Daniel's sister, came out from the tunnel halls, and grabbed her again, by her arms and legs. Austin had since recovered, as had Karyn, and after they tied the gag they had prepared in to her mouth, Austin punched Marla squarely in the stomach, causing the woman to cry out as the wind was forced from her and her abdomen ached in pain.

"A little too much, Paul," Harluf said, "But thank you. We can't let her try to fight again." He walked over to Marla, who was trying to get her breath back through only her nose.

"So good of you to grace us with your presence, _Lady_ Marla," Harluf sneered, taking a mock-bow before her. "I am sorry that our home is not as grand as your own. But that may yet change."

What the hell was he talking about? Marla shook her head and gasped behind the gag. Drew in as deep a breath as she could. Harluf grabbed her by her chin and made her look up.

"It really is a shame that we could not have been friends. Unlike our Lord, Khan, however, I would have thrown you away when it was appropriate." He let go of her chin, then fished out a vial, and a pair of tweezers from his pocket.

"The gag is not entirely necessary. No one down here cares for you, and you would not have found any help. But I prefer to take no chances." He glanced at Panjabi, and said, "My friend's assistance with the doctor was a very good decision. Without him, we would not have these." He grinned again, and opened the jar, then used the tweezers to fish out the small, black wriggling ball that had been in the bottom of the vial.

It uncurled, and Marla saw what he had procured with the stolen goods.

An Eel.

She struggled all the more as she saw the creature that Harluf held, her arms and legs jerking and pulling against the hands of her captors, but they held on, this time, and didn't let go of her. She squealed against the gag. Harluf approached, tossing aside the jar, and grabbed her chin once more.

"You can fight all you like, but it will not help you. You are too used to being treated gently, Inferior Woman," he said as he forced her head, which she tried to jerk away and shake from his grasp, to tilt. As she tried desperately to pull free, Harluf dropped the Eel, and it landed just within her ear.

He let go of her, as if touching her was scalding, but the others held on to her, even as she whipped her head from side to side, attempting to shake the Eel off. It was no use. Even as she continued her physical fight, the creature crawled deeper inside of until she felt it begin to enter her inner canal and burrow in to her eardrum.

The pain was excruciating and it made her jerk and shriek and squeeze her eyes tight. It was like scalding water or molten lead had been poured directly inside of her ear, and she lost hearing, briefly, in it, and it made her eyes water from the sheer force of the pain.

Moments later, physical relief came as the Eel sprayed some anesthetic mucus inside of her. She felt the gap made from its burrowing seal up, and hearing returned to her. Then she felt the creature moving from the deep canals of her ear to her skull. She felt a pressure, like a tumor or a blood vessel expanding and growing, and then, slowly, a strange fog descended; a sense of detachment befell her thoughts and emotions, and her movements, which had begun to slow and grow less frantic, stopped all together. It was almost like a dream, where one was just an observer outside of their own body. She had no control over her body, and felt her heart slow and ease, as if she weren't in a viper's den and surrounded by people who hated her.

_People who've essentially killed you._

She didn't want to think that, but it was true. Most who had been attacked by the Eels either died from terrible pain and madness, or were so despondent that they hadn't even tried to fight the larva, and been killed rather than go through the pain. Only Joaquin Weiss had ever fought them and survived.

_If only I had your strength_, she said to the memory of the strong Augment man.

Harluf took the edge of his tattered vest- the remnant of his old jumpsuit, and wiped away the blood and a clear discharge that the Eel had left. The touch was so gentle it was horrible. A parody of compassion. Then he snapped his fingers three times in front of her eyes.

"Lady Marla? Can you hear me?" he asked her. "Nod if you can hear my voice."

_Fuck off you bastard_, she thought, but her head, against her own will, nodded slowly.

"Very good. Lieutenant." He reached down, and toyed lightly with the Starfleet insignia tied around her neck. "Now, listen very carefully. We are going to remove your gag, and let go of you. But you are not going to scream or call for help, and you will not try to run away. Nod if you understand."

_Go to hell!_ She shouted in her mind, but, like a puppet on a string, she only nodded again. Harluf gave the word, and while he untied the gag, the others let go of her arms and legs. She stood, swaying just a tad, her gaze straight ahead of her.

_Oh God, why is this happening? This can't be happening!_

"So far so good," Harluf said aloud as he bent down, just slightly, to look in to her eyes.

"Are you still listening to me, Miss Marla?" the Norseman asked her.

"Yes," she said, her voice sounding dull, almost sleepy, and flat. How could that be _her_ voice!

"Very good." He sounded like he was praising an obedient child. He then said, "Listen very carefully, Miss Marla. I want you to find your husband. Do not tell him or anyone else what has happened here. You must act as though everything is normal and nothing is wrong with you. Can you do that?"

She wanted to say 'no'. She wanted to tell him to go in to the desert and die, or find the acid sea and let it melt him, flesh and bone, but instead, Marla said, "Yes."

Harluf laughed softly, and then walked aside. He picked up the knife that she had dropped during the Eel's invasion, returned to face her, and took her hand.

He pressed the hilt of the knife- the knife Khan had made for her and gifted her- in to her palm, and said, "Take your knife. Use it to kill your husband." He wrapped her fingers around the grip. "Get him alone, first, then cut his throat. Stab him in the heart, and keep stabbing him until he is dead."

_Are you insane? Kill Khan? NEVER!_ The part of her brain that still belonged only to her was filled with horror. She tried to toss the knife away, but it remained in her hand.

As if that weren't enough, he gave her one more command. "Then, when your husband is dead, you will find your son, and do the same to him. Do you understand? You will slit his throat, stab him in his heart, and you will not stop until the abomination is dead."

_**NO**__! Not my baby! I'd never hurt my son! He's my miracle- he's my little Prince! I will _**never**_ hurt my son!_

"Repeat after me," Harluf instructed her. "Khan the Tyrant must die."

_No!_

"Khan the Tyrant must die," she repeated, her voice still hollow.

"The Abomination must die," he said.

"The Abomination must die," she repeated, like a damn parrot.

"Precisely," Harluf said, sounding pleased. He stepped back from her, and the others moved away from the opening to the inner cavern room. "Now go, My Lady. Your family is waiting for you."

In her head it was like moving through water. Like a horrible waking nightmare that she couldn't escape. She felt her feet move as she turned around, and she walked out of the arched opening in to the rest of the tunnels. As her body began the long walk up to the upper caverns, she wanted badly to be able to stop herself. To grab at an archway, or take hold of one of the people who passed by her, and tell them- beg them! - to stop her. But she didn't. Instead, she felt her lips smile and her voice respond with cheerful hellos to the assorted people she met on her long ascent.

All the while, the words Harluf had made her repeat floated around in her head.

_Khan the Tyrant must die. The Abomination must die._

_I can't! I can't, I can't, I can't do this. Someone stop me! PLEASE! Anyone, stop me!_

The trip was over too soon, though it had also felt as if it had gone on for eternity. Dread and fear sat in her aching stomach as she approached the doorway to her own family's rooms. Zulieka stood before them. Suzette still had the children!

_Thank God,_ she thought. _Don't let them come back any time soon!_

Zuleika looked down at her, and said, "About time. He's been expecting you."

"I was busy," Marla heard herself say. "Just a student needing help with homework." She felt guilt grab and hold on to her as she lied so easily to her friend.

_Zuleika, you know me! Don't you see it! Please, notice something wrong with me!_

"Fine. Go on in, he's waiting. I'll bring the Prince back," Zuleika said as she stepped aside, noticing nothing wrong.

_Don't! Don't leave me with him!_ She silently begged her.

"Thank you," was what came from her lips as she walked on in to the chambers, and found her husband.

He waited in his study, writing at his journal. As she walked up to him, he turned to watch her.

_Khan the Tyrant must die._

_Please, Khan, get out of here! Leave!_

"There you are," he said as he set his book aside, and crossed to her, taking her in to his arms. "I thought you had been detained indefinitely."

He was so vulnerable- so damn open and trusting- it made her want to cry, but she didn't. Instead her arms went up around his waist.

"It wasn't anything to worry about," she lied to him. She felt her hate for Ericsson growing as she spoke. "Just a conference with a parent."

"Ah, then it is no matter." He gave a weary sigh, and said, "Our search today was not successful. I fear that we've hunted all we can of the more local reptiles. We may need to broaden the search. It will mean yet another cut in the rations." He massaged his forehead with his ungloved hand. "The people will not be pleased."

"I'm sorry," she murmured to him, though she could care less about the rations right now. Her head felt like it was on fire as she tried to fight the parasite in her brain, the disgusting little thing retaliating by squeezing at her cerebral cortex and releasing its neurotoxin inside to try and make her submit.

"I should not burden you so often with my troubles. You have many responsibilities of your own." Khan smiled down at her and led her toward their bed. He sat, and then drew her down to sit on his thighs. "When did we last converse on the works of Shakespeare, love?" he asked her as his hands roamed from her waist down along her hips.

"Last month, I think," she answered. She was appalled at how easy Khan was making this. She leaned in to him as his fingers moved along her body, and she felt herself wanting to shake him. Make him push her away before she could hurt him.

He asked her, "When did you first experience the wonders of The Bard?"

"When I was fourteen. My school did a production of _Hamlet_."

"Tell me about it," he requested. "I want to know if the adolescents of your generation truly grasped the complexity of the story."

"Of course," she answered. "Close your eyes."

His lids fell, and she adjusted her body, one hand landing on his shoulder while the other drew out her knife.

_I'm actually doing it_, she thought. _I'm going to murder my husband, then turn and kill my son when he comes back. _

_Khan the Tyrant must die. The Abomination must die._

_But he's so strong!_ As she prepared to draw the knife against his skin, she remembered so many things about Khan that she had not only read about in her studies, but what she had observed for herself. How his presence could draw the eye from anyone, how he filled up any space with the sheer magnitude of himself. How his voice could captivate you and inspire fear, awe, or desire. His touch, which could be either firm and powerful, or soft and tender. His undying drive to live, and his determination to face anything that threatened him or his people, without fear or hesitation.

_He's larger than life. He's magnificent. He and Joaquin are my world!_

Thoughts of her son brought the image of the boy to her head, and she remembered what she had overcome to carry him. Staggering statistics and hardships. The pain of his birth, and the joy at holding him in her arms for the first time. His smile, his first steps, his first words. How he'd grown in leaps and bounds both in body and mind and was the most wondrous child.

Her hand stopped. Began to shake. Her fingers squeezed at the hilt until her knuckles turned white.

"_**NO!**_" the word burst from her lips and she shoved herself from Khan's lap, throwing herself on to the floor, then scrambling back and away from him. Her sudden outburst jolted him, made him open his eyes and watch her with confusion as he rose to his feet.

"Marla?" He stared at her, eyes widening a fraction at the sight of her knife in her hands. "What is-"

"STAY BACK! Keep away from me!" she cried as she slashed at the air between them. She looked at the knife, and felt the pulse of the Eel in her brain as it squeezed again, trying to make her comply. Make her lunge at her husband and stab him. She snarled through her teeth, then threw the knife away, making it skitter on the stone floor, and hit the wall. It cracked upon impact.

"Marla, what madness is this?" Khan demanded as he stepped closer. She quickly crawled away and grabbed her head as she felt the pulse again.

"DON'T!" she yelled again and grabbed at her hair. Fingers going through the thick strands, then tugging. Pulling hard enough to hurt. "Harluf! He- Eel!"

"Mother?"

Her head whipped to the opening and she saw Joaquin, standing in the doorway with Padma and Suzette behind him.

Suzette asked, "What the hell's going on?"

Marla felt tears finally- FINALLY!- escaping her eyes. Her body shook, and she said, "Keep him away! Keep them_ both_ away!" she screamed as the pressure and pulse happened again.

_Khan the Tyrant must die._

_No!_

_The Abomination must die._

_NO!_

_**NO!**_

_Slit his throat. Stab his heart._

She roughly shook her head and shrieked again, sounding feral and wild as she defied the parasite and the insidious command in her head. She would not- she would _**never!**_ - give in to the order!

_Protect him_.

It came from the depths of her memory. The voice of Joaquin Weiss, as he died in the rain and the muck of the monsoons. She had thought then that it meant he wanted her to protect his unborn child. But she realized it now. The true meaning of his words.

Protect Khan.

She trembled, and growled, and she fought with the thing in her head until the pressure built and she felt a sudden, painful snap deep inside of her skull.

As she felt the pulse and the throbbing pressure begin to dissipate, she also felt her vision blurring. Her body going lax. Her thoughts getting fuzzy.

The world pitched.

As she fell, Khan pitched himself to his knees, and caught her. Before her vision completely blacked out, she had a single coherent thought.

_My Khan. Joaquin, my miracle. I love you._

* * *

_**Khan's POV**_

He was in shock. Disbelief. His wife of seven years, his queen, lay in his arms after drawing her knife upon him. At the doorway, Suzette, stunned and struck dumb by the sight, had watched the whole scene. Young Joaquin sprang from his own spot to kneel beside his father, as they looked at Marla's slack, limp body.

"What's wrong with her?" the prince asked, eyes shining as tears began to well in his eyes. "Father, what's wrong with her?" he pleaded.

"I," Khan tried to think. She had said Harluf's name. And… Eel…

He felt something drip over his hand, then saw, in a thick congealing of blood and mucus, an Eel fall to the floor. He instantly withdrew from it, before he pulled his hand back and slammed the gloved palm against the hard stone floor, smashing the parasite. He scraped the remains of the larva from his hand, then pulled Marla's body close to his. Rose to his feet, and hefting her in to his arms.

It was clear. Harluf Ericsson, by his wife's own declaration, put the creature in her and attempted to kill them.

_But my wife- my tenacious, strong, fiery Marla- her love and spirit are stronger than your hatred and spite._ He swept past Suzette.

"Take the children to Zuleika, have her keep them safe," he ordered. "Send your people after Ericsson! Kill anyone who tries to stop you, but bring him back _to me_."

"Yes, Sir," Suzette said, her voice wavering only slightly. He would not blame the woman for the shaking. She had seen her best friend go through the same battle that her own lover had once fought.

_I must take her to Gideon before the seizures begin_, he thought as his feet took him from his family's homes and away. Behind him he heard his son's voice.

"No! I want to go to! Mother! Father! I want to help her! Mother!" the boy started screaming, but soon the sounds dissipated as Khan made his way to the infirmary.

Gideon was just as bewildered at the sight of Khan carrying his unconscious bride in to the cavern used for their hospital. But he guided Khan over to the salvaged shuttle cushions he used for an examining bed, and while the man scanned her brain with the last of the working tricorders, Khan held on to her. When the tremors began and her willowy frame began to convulse, he followed Gideon's directions. Hold her. Keep her tongue from being swallowed. He held on to her arms, half draping himself over her jerking, shuddering body.

_You've almost won, my love_, he urged silently as he watched her flail beneath him.

When she stopped, he slid back, away from her.

"Well? This is it, yes?" he asked Gideon. "How long before she wakes?"

Gideon looked at the small device in his hand, and the doctor turned his head away.

"…Gideon?" Khan's voice firmed. His eyes narrowed at the physician. "Doctor Hawkins, tell me, when will my wife awaken?"

Gideon's throat bobbed. "My Lord," the doctor said, "I… I don't think she'll make it."

_Impossible_.

"But you and Liam agreed, if the parasite was fought, and the proper chemicals drove it out, then the patient would survive. She _fought_ it, Gideon! I saw her do it- with as much power and urgency as any warrior, she fought it!"

"But her brain's been damaged!" Gideon replied. "My Lord, she's not like us…"

Khan was about to retort, but then he knew what Gideon meant.

_Our blood. Our regenerative DNA. She doesn't have the capability to heal from this._

_She won the battle against the parasite but will ultimately lose…_

_She will die._

_**No.**__ She cannot. I won't allow it!_

His mind raced to the memory of her, from their first meeting. The burns on her back, the syringe he had used to inject her with his own super-human, body-repairing blood.

His eyes darted through the whole of the room. There were no needles, no syringes or bags for blood transfer. Such items were used up years ago, and he snarled, slamming his hands down upon the floor, body folding over. There had to be a way!

_There is _one_ way._

His head snapped up and he took her body in to his arms, holding her tightly.

"What are you doing?" Gideon asked, looking confused.

"I can still save her," Khan said as he lifted his wife and darted for the door.

"My Lord, there's no way!" Gideon called to him.

"I can still save her!" Khan shouted, the sound of his voice echoing against the walls.

His feet carried him through the tunnels. He raced by openings, where faces peered out to watch him as he sped through, taking his wife to one location. The only place left where he knew, without any doubt, that her life could be saved.

The Grotto.

The large grotto, once likely a place that had been full of water and stalactites, had been emptied out long ago, and remade in to a hollow and open storage center. In it, the remaining cryogenic tubes, those that did not preserve their meat, were kept in reserve for some unseen use. Khan had a very important use for them now.

He went to the nearest one and tapped in the key code to open it, fingers flying over the old touch-pad before the cylinder opened with a hiss. He carefully laid his wife inside, pausing but to check her pulse.

_Weak! How can it be weak? Nothing about her should be weak._

_I must hurry._

He pressed the key pad again, and the tube began to close. As it snapped shut, his eyes moved with frantic motion and his breath caught in his throat as he watched both the glass that let him see her face within the tube, and the vital-signs monitor.

"Stay with me, Marla, my love. Stay with me," he pleaded.

Her heart rate steadied. Her brainwaves came to a slow, but not dangerous level. Breathing eased. All of her signs read as stable.

She was alive.

Barely.

With the adrenaline and the tension that had built in him fading, Khan slumped against the tube, his body covering it as his torso and arms splayed over it. His eyes shut, and time passed away, his mind going blank in the darkness.

As his mind whirred back in to motion, he came to two realizations.

The first was that though he had saved her from dying now, he had no other means of helping her. No ways to transfer his blood in to her veins, and thus rebuilding and repairing the tissue damaged by the parasite. At best, he had but delayed the inevitable.

The second was that, even if he could find a means to save her, until that time, his wife would not be able to stand beside him. She would not be waiting for him in their home after expeditions, and her arms would not be able to wrap around him in welcoming, loving embrace. Her voice would not grace his ears.

_She is gone._

_My wife…my queen… My Eve is gone._

"Oh fairest of creation," he breathed as he felt his heart being squeezed, as if a hand had reached in to him and taken hold of it. Squeezed it. "How art thou lost? How on a sudden lost!"

He looked up, and in to the pane of clear glass. Frost already rimmed its corners, and her face, paler than he had ever known it to be, eyes closed and mouth just barely parted, could be seen.

_Is this my wife?_ He asked himself. _Where is the spirit? Where is the fire that lay dormant, even when she slept? Where is her warmth? Where has she gone?_

His voice became manic as his reason began to dissolve. He felt the pain of Adam after the Fall. The grief of Heathcliff when Catherine had perished.

"Where is she? Not there- not in heaven," he moved along the glass as his fingers sought the glass. "Be with me always," he begged her. "Take any form-drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!"

He lifted his head and released from his lungs- from the very depths of his heart- a howl of pain, grief, and torment.

He looked down upon her face again, finger tips slowly moving over the clear glass that separated them from her skin. He knew that this face lacked so much of what had made up his wife, but he also knew that it was still the wife who had weathered many storms beside him. Who had faced trial after trial and come through.

_Cruel. Too cruel. How can you leave me thus, my love? After all we have been through together?_

Memories flooded his mind. The hair that cushioned her head and fell over her shoulders brought the thoughts of ruby colored locks that had grown out, soft and natural and touchable, framing her face as she lay upon their bed. Her closed eyes hiding bright amber-brown orbs that could be so warm, and showed every emotion she had, from glistening tears of sadness to the heat of passion and the gentleness of love. Her skin, softer than down, and tasting of honey. Her lips, recipients and givers of a thousand kisses, not only to him and his body in devotion and desire, but to the cheeks of their son and young Padma. Lips that could speak words and disclose secrets, that had shared with him thoughts on everything from poetry to plays to philosophy and her beloved history.

_You were such a marvel, my love. How can I lose you now? A true Superior woman in all ways but the most important. How ironic! Unjust! Such beauty and grace, taken and brought low by a mere parasite! How could such a thing befall someone so rare and magnificent?_

_It is my fault,_ he despaired. _You followed me here; tempted by the serpent and forbidden knowledge, and now you are here, frozen and cold, and I am unable even to give you a kiss, lest I hasten Death to take you further away from me._

His eye moved down, to the point where glass ended and the sleek black metal began, and he caught a glimpse of silver. Still around her neck, tied to her like an anchor- a chain- was the unforgettable insignia of Starfleet. It was free of tarnish, even now. The design that had been pinned to her uniform, remembered now from long ago, when he had first met her.

His eyes narrowed in thought, there in the grotto. The darkness pierced only by the light from the now active cryo-tube. Another memory came to him now. In the voice of the very woman frozen in the tube.

_"The mission was to take your people and leave you on a planet that was capable of sustaining human life, but keep you far from Earth, far from technology. The Federation deemed you too dangerous, but there were protests to killing you."_

No. No, he saw it now. Believed it more than he ever had. This was not his fault- not Marla's pain and suffering, not his people's. None of it! This was all because of the Federation, and it's damned Starfleet! They were the murderers and the monsters who had sent Marla and her ship's crew to their deaths. They were the ones who had orchestrated it! They had to have known that Ceti Alpha VI had little time left- they must have! And they must surely have heard Marla's distress signal. Must surely have received it… And ignored it.

_They knew she lived, and the left her here to die with us. If only they had left us to sleep! If only they had not been cowards and simply destroyed us on Earth… Then she would not have suffered… None of us would have suffered._

"_James Kirk,"_ Marla's voice said, deep within his mind. The name, remembered, brought to him the image of the young, dark-blond haired, and naïve captain of the _Enterprise._

"_James Kirk, and others. They didn't want more death."_

"Oh, my poor Marla… You were wrong," he told her. He looked at the glass again, and said, "Ericsson and his allies will be brought to justice. That I will make sure of. But I know, my love, deep within my heart, who is truly responsible for this. Who sentenced you- and all of us- to death here."

He was sure of it. Kirk had not struck him as a man of mercy or peace. The man was as much fueled by revenge as Khan was. Yes they were two sides of the same coin, they were! The Captain had once punched and attempted to beat Khan for the death of Admiral Christopher Pike. Then he had gone after Admiral Marcus with ire on behalf of his crew.

Not only Kirk, though. No, never only Kirk. He remembered the ferocity that the Vulcan, Spock, had shown as he chased Khan through the streets of San Francisco, and beaten him until he had lost consciousness. These men would not seek peace. They would seek only revenge. They would have made sure that Starfleet carried it out for them.

Were it not for them…

"I swear, Marla," he said as he rose to his feet, "Upon the token you wear, I _swear_, James Kirk, and all of Starfleet, will pay for every tragedy that has afflicted our people over these doleful years. One way or another, no matter how many years may pass, I will find a way off of this planet, and I will find him, then, I will destroy _every single_ _planet _that bears the Federation flag, until all who hear the name of Khan trembles in fear… Then, my beloved, I shall take their technology and resurrect you, to be by my side as my Empress, again… By all I hold sacred… We shall be _avenged_!"

* * *

AN: And there we have it! A hopeful-cliffhanger ending! I know fans and readers of the original source material will see the difference I've made, but I'm sorry. I couldn't really let her kill herself. That isn't the Marla I created. That isn't who she is now. This woman would fight to the end.

So, if you want a hopeful future, and want Khan to get his revenge, or hope that she is saved, think of this as the 'ending'. But there's still more. An Epilogue, and a proper ending for those of you who are curious about what is to come. Thank you all for sticking with me so far… Just one last leap, my friends.


	30. Epilogue

AN: This is the final chapter, everyone. Stay tuned afterward for a special Author's Note. Until then…

Dialogue borrowed, altered, and making appearances here are not my own, as are none of the characters. All rights belong to Abbrams, Roddenberry, and others.

* * *

_**Jim Kirk's POV**_

"Good Lord!" Bones murmured as he took in the gloomy ambiance surrounding them.

One whole earth-year had passed since the disastrous and deadly return of the genetically-engineered soldier, Khan Noonien Singh. Jim had never thought that he would ever see the man again, and certainly not be on the wrong end of the augmented human's vengeful warpath. In all honesty, he had thought that the man had been sleeping, for years, hidden away in a secret base on the Earth.

After the crash of the_ U._ _S. S. Vengeance_, and the near eradication of Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco from that crash, he had thought that Khan and his people would never see the light of day again. He'd tried to give Khan what he wanted.

"_You should have let me sleep!"_

Words uttered before he crushed in Marcus's head, he'd been told.

Apparently, though, the seventy three humans had been secreted off the planet over twenty years ago, and sent to this remote quadrant of the universe to be silently, and quietly, forgotten.

Khan, last year, during their greatest and final standoff, had laid the full blame of the sufferings of his people upon Starfleet, and for some reason, on Kirk himself.

"_I did nothing to you!"_ Kirk remembered saying to him through the main communication screen.

"_Oh but you did, _Admiral _Kirk… Your cowardice and inability to simply destroy us sent us to our damnation. Your precious Starfleet took from us our hope, and because of your 'mercy' we have suffered more these last eighteen years than you can possibly imagine."_ The face he had seen on that screen was aged and weathered by the sandy, dirt-festooned winds and the blistering sun that shone down on Ceti Alpha V. His hair was stark white, and his voice held to it an edge of weariness. But the man he had seen was unmistakably Khan.

He had spent a long while digging in to the circumstances that led Khan here, and now he had to know why the man despised him so much.

And to know if he really had had a hand in the deaths of the people on this planet.

During his own investigations, Jim had come across, among the various secret projects that Starfleet had conducted, one that had included the commissioning of another vessel, the _U. S. S. Eden_, and a full crew that had been deployed with the intention of reaching Ceti Alpha V, to deposit Khan and his people on the, then, Class-M planet and let them survive as they would on its surface. But something had, long ago, gone terribly wrong to destroy the neighboring planet, Ceti Alpha VI, and this caused the downward spiral that led to last year's altercation.

This included a ship called the _U. S. S. Reliant_, and a crew that Khan had banished from the ship and left here, on this planet. Last year he hadn't been able to fully explore the ruined planet. How could they when they had three hundred men and women, who were injured, hungry, and terrified, to rescue and treat?

That was why Jim was here now, with Bones, naturally. And Spock. He had almost lost the Vulcan one year ago, in the heart of a top-secret project that merely complicated the entire altercation against Khan, and in the end, many lives were lost. But he at least had his closest and most trusted of friends beside him, now.

They had beamed down to the planet from a small warp-capable shuttle, called the _Yakima_, and they had used their tricorders to seek out the skeletal remains of an old escape shuttle, which stood before a towering mountain. The mountain hid the limestone and granite caves that Scotty and Captain Terrell had been taken to when they had beamed down to the planet, thinking it was Ceti Alpha VI, during the old engineer's assignment as a member of the top-secret Project Genesis.

"_It's ironic,"_ Scotty had said when the man had awoken after fighting off the influence of a Ceti Eel- a disgusting creature that had nearly destroyed the Scottish genius's brain- _"Their first choice for this whole mess was Pavel… Poor lad, I'm glad he didn't have to go through this. I wouldn't wish it on anyone."_

So many decisions and altered lives… It made Jim wonder.

Right now, Jim and his two friends went through the dark tunnels, using the lights mounted on their helmets to guide them. Their clear visors were up, allowing them to breathe the dank, but non-toxic air.

"Reminds me of Janus Six," Bones went on to comment. "Or Exo Three."

Harrowing adventures, those were, Jim recalled.

"Fascinating," Spock remarked. He aimed his own tricorder down one of the narrower tunnels. "Jim, I'm detecting a rather extensive network of underground chambers, linked by branching corridors."

Jim turned his head and sniffed the air, which carried the smell of sour, unwashed bodies, even now.

"The fresher air is being generated in some of the chambers ahead," Spock said as the two human men joined him at the opening. "Possibly gardens of some variety?"

Kirk couldn't help but be impressed. "How big _is_ this network?" he asked the Vulcan.

"Impossible to say, Captain," Spock answered. Jim had, since last year's events, given up his position as a retired Admiral to be a ship Captain again. Spock went on, "As I mentioned, the presence of various metals and unknown minerals- including, perhaps, kelbonite- makes long-range scanning difficult. There may even be additional levels deeper below us."

Kirk turned his head and looked over one wall. He ran a gloved hand over its surface, and saw the evidence of chiseling in the rock. "Is it possible that Khan and his people carved out this whole installation?"

"Negative, Captain." Spock replied, also inspecting the markings. "More likely, they adapted an existing network of caverns for their own use. Portions of these catacombs appear to have been formed by natural geological processes, while other regions have been expanded and excavated by artificial effort."

"Perhaps the cataclysm that devastated the surface drove them underground," Bones commented as he peered with them in to the darkened caves.

Kirk looked up at the thick limestone roof above them, and a thought occurred to him. He reached for his communicator. "Kirk to _Yakima_, can you read me, Sulu?"

Static greeted him.

"Just like what Scotty said he and Terrell got when they were ambushed. Looks like we're on our own," he said to Spock and Bones.

"Well, that's a comforting thought," McCoy drawled.

"Always the optimist, Bones," Jim said. He stared ahead of them, contemplating the profusion of labyrinthine tunnels leading away from the main cavern. If Spock was right, it could take hours, if not days, to fully explore the entire cave system. This was a job for full-fledged archeological survey, not a trio of Starfleet officers.

_Just what the hell am I looking for? A sworn statement from Khan exempting me from responsibility for his people's suffering?_

His friend and science officer wandered ahead, his searchlight probing the darkness to guide them along. Bone paused at one point, let out a soft grunt and whipped the helmet from his head.

"Stupid thing! It's enough to give a man claustrophobia," the man muttered.

Partway down one of the murky corridors, which opened up to the left of the larger main hall, Spock paused, and he said, "Captain, I believe you should come here."

Only those who knew the Vulcan well could catch the subtle change in his monotone to hear a twinge of excitement in his voice. Jim, being among those people, ran as quickly as his weighted gravity-boots would allow and joined his friend.

"What did you find?" he asked, even as he peered in to the tunnel. It was short, actually. Only fifty-paces worth of room before a wall made the whole thing a dead end. But as they approached, their lights bouncing off of the rocky surfaces, there could be seen a fine line of separation between the 'wall' and the roof, as well as the floor.

"A false wall?" Jim muttered.

"Well I'll be!" Bones exclaimed as he joined them, a slight grin on his wrinkle-lined face. "Sure would have fooled me."

"Not always the most difficult of accomplishments, Doctor McCoy" Spock said, gaining him a glare from the doctor. "Nonetheless, it is a highly effective exercise in camouflage."

"How'd he make this?" Kirk asked. "It's not like he had thermoconcrete."

"It is likely this was the original wall of another chamber and simply reshaped and moved, Captain," Spock answered.

"For what purpose?" Kirk asked aloud, musing. "What could Khan possibly be hiding to go to such extremes? And who would he hide it from?"

Spock looked at his tricorder, and said, "Captain, sensors indicate another chamber, approximately fifty-nine-point-eight-seven-two cubic meters in size. I am also detecting traces of organic matter." His right eyebrow arched up as he looked at Jim.

"Organic?" Bones echoed, alarmed and surprised. "You mean there's someone alive in there?"

"Life signs are very low," Spock answered the doctor. "And only meet the bare minimum of life, but, yes, Doctor. There is someone inside."

"That settles it," Kirk said. "Whoever Khan has in here, they're trapped, and we need to get them out." He doubted that the person, with the barest technical signs of life, would be hostile. Besides, they could possibly be a prisoner of Khan's that they had somehow overlooked when they had rescued the _Reliant's_ crew. They needed to find out who was in here, why, and save them.

He looked up at the ceiling. "Spock, is this wall structurally important?"

"Negative, Captain," Spock told him. "The odds of a cave-in from the wall's removal are less than one-point-zero-four percent."

"Good enough for me," Jim said as he took out his phaser and set it to its highest setting. "You gentlemen might want to stand back."

They both obliged their Captain's suggestion as Jim aimed the phaser and fired. It took three crimson colored shots to get the whole wall down, but soon it was dust at their feet, with only a two larger rocks remaining at the very corners of the opening. The three officers stepped through, though Bones briefly cast a glance upward at the ceiling (in spite of Spock's prediction).

After setting his phaser back to 'Kill', Jim lifted his head and let his searchlight illuminate the room. What they beheld caused them all to pause, and his jaw dropped.

The place had obviously once been a grotto, but what they saw was a tomb of exceptional elegance and beauty. The walls were festooned with carvings that depicted various periods of Earth history. Pharaohs and Grecian beauties, Knights on horseback with fair maidens, sea-faring explorers, American Revolutionists, Victorian-era ladies and gentlemen hand in hand in dance, Flappers paired with dapper men in suits and fedoras. The first Astronauts even graced the walls in their ancient space-suits. And in the center of the chapel-like space were two stone sarcophagi. The right-hand sarcophagus was unadorned, yet was entirely smooth, as if waiting for the day an image would be carved in to it.

The left-hand sarcophagus, however, bore the image of a beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties. Her face, a soft oval shape, was framed by ample hair that cascaded down to her shoulders in waves. Her features, ones that an artist might call classical, looked wistful, yet bore a touch of something else. A determination, or a hopeful and powerful spirit.

What was most curious about this woman, however, was that she was not garbed like one of Khan's augmented people. The men and women inside of the cryo-tubes, when Jim and his crew encountered them, had been wearing jumpsuits. This woman, depicted in granite, wore a Starfleet uniform.

"This style of uniform has not been standard issue for over twenty years," Spock observed as he looked down at the lid of the second sarcophagus. Then the Vulcan approached the elaborately decorated walls, to inspect their images further.

Jim went to the foot of the sarcophagus. There he found an engraving.

"Marla McGivers Singh… Beloved wife and mother…" _Mother? Khan not only married this woman, she'd born him a son? How was that possible?!_ "A Superior Woman…"

Bones walked up to Him as he knelt by the sarcophagus. "Who was this woman?" he asked the doctor.

"I don't know," Bones said, "But if this place is any indication, then Khan must have loved her very much."

Jim's eyes went over the chiseled lid, again. Whoever this woman was, apparently Khan had determined she was important enough to require such a memorial. The exquisite craftsmanship of the sculpture testified to hours of painstaking labor and commitment, and that was merely on the sarcophagus and its lid! The walls around them and their images must have taken the better part of many years. He had no doubt that this was Khan's own handiwork.

_He likely intended the other sarcophagus for himself._

"Impressive," Spock observed, joining them. "A burial site transformed into an artistic expression of love. Not unlike the Taj Mahal in Khan's native India. However… If you two will note, there is a curious lack of either birth or death-date. Not even an approximation of one." His right eyebrow twirked up again, and that made Jim's own brain jump right on to the same track that Spock's had taken.

"The readings… This isn't a real tomb," Jim said, getting to his feet and moving to the sarcophagus's side. "He made it look like one! It's another disguise."

"But how could he bury the woman he loves alive?" exclaimed Bones as he joined Jim's side. Spock was beside them shortly, and the three placed their hands on the edge of the massive stone lid.

"There's only one way to know for sure, Bones," Jim said. "Push!" The three pushed hard at the sarcophagus lid, causing it to grind, and then slide slowly over the stone below, until it tipped. They used all of their combined strength to ensure that the lid didn't fall or break as it tilted over, until they had the sarcophagus opened.

Inside of the stone slab, lay a sleek, black cryo-tube. The same ones that Khan and his people had slept in long ago. Within that tube, her face lit up from the internal lights of the old relic of technology, lay a woman. Lines were evident around her full lips, and just at the corners of her eyes, which belied the youthful visage on the lid, and the expression was one not of resting, undying spirit, but one of sadness. However, there could be no denying that the woman in the tube was the same one depicted on the lid.

To further identify her, just at the edge of where glass met black metal, they saw an old, silver Starfleet insignia tied in a leather cord.

"Well, hello there, Mrs. Singh," Jim said softly. "Bones, examine her. See what the extent of her injuries is and what we'll need to do to help her."

Doctor McCoy wasted no time in dropping to one knee and taking out his own tricorder and other tools to examine Marla Singh, while Spock stepped around to the other sarcophagus.

"Captain," Spock said, "I'm detecting a variety of artifacts within the accompanying sarcophagus… Including a small quantity of data disks."

"Data disks?" Jim asked as he walked over to Spock. The two looked at the undecorated lid, and each took to one end of the sarcophagus. They put their hands under the lip of the lid, and managed to lift it up, and off, while Bones did his work behind them.

"Doesn't this seem a bit ghoulish to either of you?" Bones suddenly asked them, his head popping up.

"Well, given that that woman is alive," Jim said as he and Spock stood by the other sarcophagus, pausing to catch his breath after removing the lid, "And Khan's remains are scattered all over the Mutara Sector, there isn't anyone here to really object."

_And I want these data disks_, Jim thought as he reached inside. Within the sarcophagus, they found not only a handful of disks (the sort used by old issue tricorders) but also three books that looked as if they'd been made entirely by hand. From the leather and the binding to the pages themselves.

_How had they been able to make books here? Even before the destruction of the surface, how had they had the means and knowledge?_

"These appear to be journals. They could be very important historical documents, Captain," Spock said as he opened up one of the books found inside of the sarcophagus.

"But why leave these things here?" asked Bones. "And her! She's supposed to be his 'beloved wife', so why did he leave her and his journals and the disks?"

Jim thought that he might know. "Well, either he had a premonition that he wouldn't survive his quest for vengeance and wanted the disks and his journals left behind as some sort of testament, as well as his wife left here, safe and alive… Or he thought his victory was assured and that he would have time to come back for her and his possessions."

"Likely the former, though, given his penchant for dramatic, albeit suicidal, gestures," Spock said. "If you will both recall, he did attempt to destroy Starfleet Headquarters while singlehandedly manning a crashing starship."

"Yeah," agreed Bones, "And Sulu told me about him jumping fifty meters out of the gaping hole in the bridge of that ship. Sounds like Khan, all right."

"I don't think Khan really cared what happened to him," Jim said to them, "As long as he took me and Starfleet with him… the idea of dying against his arch foe probably appealed to his warped sense of grandeur."

Jim looked over the books and the disks. He was sorely tempted to open them and find out what precisely had happened here, and if the events really were somehow either his or Starfleet's fault.

He sighed, and said, "Let's get this woman out of here and take her to the nearest station for treatment."

"Great idea," Bones said, "I'm ready to get out of here and off of this dust ball."

_I'll be able to go over these later_, Jim told himself as he opened a couple of compartments in his suit and put the disks and the books inside.

However, a faint sound from outside of the grotto caught Jim's attention.

"Did you hear that?" he asked his friends. But neither of them had time to respond before a pair of fists burst through the wall behind Bones. A muscular arm wrapped around the doctor's neck. As Bones gasped for air, Jim and Spock reached for their phasers, and aimed at the figure that appeared in the doorway to the grotto.

"Drop your weapons!" barked the figure, "or my friend will break your companion's neck."

They were confronted by a young woman, just around twenty years old, with intense and bright blue eyes. Her voice held a slight Scandinavian, possibly Norwegian, accent, and her clothes appeared to be a myriad patchwork of cloth and animal hide. In her right hand was a long spear, sporting a long blade on its tip. At her hip hung a belt that appeared carved from bone and rock. Beside her another young person joined her. Also blond-haired, this one had features on his face that could have marked him as Asian, but for the paleness of his eyes and skin.

The woman aimed her spear up, while the young man had a makeshift bamboo bow, arrow notched, up, looking ready to strike at either Jim or Spock should they move.

"Your weapons," she said, her spear at Jim's neck, and her friend's arrow aimed for Spock's head. "Now."

With a choking sound from Bones to emphasize the validity of her threat, Jim said, "Fine! All right." He gave a nod to Spock, and they both set their phasers down on the rock floor of the grotto. "Now let him go. We mean you no harm."

The woman stepped further in to the chamber and said, "Quiet!" She gave her head a jerking nod, and others began to enter the chamber. They appeared to range in age from as old as twenty, like the young woman, to as young as fifteen. Each one of them had primitive, but very deadly, weapons either in their hands or strapped to them.

_Child soldiers?_ Jim couldn't believe it. He'd thought Khan had taken all of his followers from the planet.

_Maybe they're not his followers…Maybe they're the ones he was protecting his wife from._

The woman called out, "Let the other one breath. For now," and her friend outside of the grotto released McCoy, letting him gasp and wheeze as he staggered forward to join Jim and Spock.

"You all right, Bones?" Jim asked the old doctor.

"Yeah, fine," Bones coughed back. He shook his head, muttering "I knew we should have gone to Yosemite."

As the woman looked around the room, her half-feral cohorts surrounded them. She ordered them, "Take their weapons," and two of their number moved over to take the dropped phasers. Whoever they were, Jim decided, they were still likely second generation super-humans. It was the only possible conclusion.

The woman finally turned to look at them, again. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Why are you here?"

Jim took a breath. "My name is James T. Kirk," he almost added, 'Captain of the Star Ship _Enterprise_', but stopped short. "We are here on a peaceful mission-"

"Astrid," called out one of the young men among the others, "He wears the same symbol as the Great Whore."

"I see that, Cesare," the woman, Astrid, said as she looked at the symbols on their protective suits.

"…You know about Starfleet?" Jim asked her. _This could be very, very bad._

"My father told me about this symbol," Astrid told him. "He said that the officers of the military force, known as Starfleet, wear them. They were the ones who made our people live on this planet, and Khan's human whore wore that same emblem around her neck." Her hatred was almost palatable as she glared at the three officers.

_Yes, definitely bad._

Astrid turned to her companions. "There may be others. We should leave, soon. But first…" She gestured to one of the others, another woman, who had retrieved their phasers, and she gave Astrid the gun.

"My father told me about these, too," she said. "A phaser…It's exquisite. I wonder if it really is as powerful as we were told."

Realizing her intention, Bones cried out in horror, "You can't! That woman's still alive! You'll be murdering her!" Jim reached over to place a hand over his friend's chest before an arsenal of weapons was aimed at them.

"She is Khan's woman, and the mother of The Abomination. She deserves to die, without any honors." She walked around to the opened sarcophagus, and aimed.

"Please," Jim tried, "Think of what you're doing. That woman is as much of a victim as any of you. She shouldn't die because of who she married or who she gave birth to."

"SILENCE!" shouted Astrid, aiming the phaser at Jim. "You know _nothing_, James T. Kirk. And if you did you would not deny me this!"

"Please, let us at least take her back to Earth," he tried once more.

Astrid merely glared at him, and then turned the phaser's aim in to the sarcophagus.

She pulled the trigger.

* * *

In the chair of his rooms, aboard Station 12, the nearest space-station, under the Federation's control, to Ceti Alpha V, Jim reflected on the events that had occurred on the desolate planet. Not only his own adventure, which included the outwitting of Astrid Ericsson, her remnant of Augments, and their eventual relocation to the planet Sycorax, but also what he had now learned happened to Khan, and the mysterious Marla McGivers Singh.

With Bones and Spock at his side, Jim had read through the journals, and listened to each data disk. One had contained a 'final message' from, then, Lieutenant McGivers, as well as recordings she had made after the destruction of the ship she had been assigned to. The others held recordings from Khan himself, the first few cataloging his first years on the planet, the others holding very personal, and… rather heartfelt messages for the woman who had been sleeping in the tube.

"_Marla, my beloved… I suspect that when you view these recordings, much time will have passed. To help you feel less… adrift and lost, and to ensure that you miss nothing of what has happened since the day you fell in to your long sleep, I have left these disks for you. Know that, as I, and our son, record these messages for you that… we are always thinking of you. That we miss you, and… that we love you. And we do so more and more as each day passes by."_

Those disks, Jim never watched or listened to in their entirety. It seemed very wrong and invasive. After all, Khan had made them for his wife to view.

It was a tragedy that she never would.

Astrid's aim had been true. Even with holding it for the first time, her advanced brain had figured out enough that she was able to get off several blasts. It still made him sick to his stomach that the young woman had not only destroyed the controls and the glass of the tube that had kept Khan's wife alive, but that she'd also destroyed the beautifully carved lid of her sarcophagus, and the engraving as well.

_Thank God that was her last act of revenge,_ Jim thought. _Now she won't be turning in to another Khan._

"It just… seems wrong, and unjust that we couldn't save her," Jim said aloud to his friends.

"Even if Astrid or her followers had donated their blood, Jim, the life-support on that tube was all that was keeping her alive." Bones said from his chair. "If we had had more time… But she was dead within minutes, and for hours. The brain damage was so extensive…She likely would have ended up, at best, a vegetable."

"I agree with Doctor McCoy, Captain," Spock said. "Consider also that her husband and her son, the two people whom she would consider the most important to her, are dead. Would you awaken a woman, who had nearly died for the sake of those very people, to such a painful future?"

Jim shook his head. "This… still doesn't feel finished. I need to know why. Why was she there? Why did Khan take a wife from the very people he hated?"

"He was bat-shit crazy, Jim," Bones said. "Who can guess at the thoughts of a psychopath?"

Spock said, "According to the manifest of the_ U. S. S. Eden_, she was the ship historian. Very intriguing, actually."

Jim still couldn't help himself. "I just… I wish there was someone I could ask, but everyone who would know the whole, untainted truth is dead."

Spock's eyebrow lifted, and he said, "There may be _one_ who would know." He looked at Jim and Bones, and the two men immediately knew.

It took little time for them to contact New Vulcan. Using the mini-com screen, they were soon able to see in to a room. Sitting upright upon a bed on the new home world of the Vulcan race, a very, very aged, and very tired looking Vulcan male looked at them.

Jim hadn't seen him since last year, when they had traveled to New Vulcan after the destruction of the Genesis Planet, but Jim remembered him well. Both versions of him, actually. The one that appeared on the screen he had met years ago, on a frozen planet, when the Vulcan's younger, alternate self, had abandoned Jim upon the frigid surface.

"Hello, Mr. Spock," Jim said, smiling at the wizened face.

The old Vulcan took a deep breath, and he answered, "Hello, Jim. Doctor McCoy… and Mr. Spock."

Bones raised one hand, and the younger Spock simply nodded.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, gentlemen?" asked the older Spock.

"We… Well, it's a very complicated situation," Jim said. He then went on to explain to the old Vulcan about their circumstances. About Khan, Lieutenant McGivers, and his people's exile. Their confrontation the year before, and the investigation that had all led Jim to Ceti Alpha V and the events that happened to them there.

Spock the Elder remained silent the whole time, though he did occasionally hum at various points, such as when Jim had told him that Scotty had accompanied Terrell to the planet, and that Khan, apparently, had had a son. Once the whole tale was told, the old Vulcan took another long breath, before releasing it in a heavy sigh.

"While some details are different, which does not surprise me, Jim… I know well this account. And I know who Marla McGivers is. Or, what she was in _my_ timeline."

"Please," Jim said, "Anything at all helps."

The older Spock then said, "Marla McGivers, during the original chain of events, had been the ship historian aboard _The Enterprise_. She was assigned to the ship at the very start of our five-year mission, and I would suspect that she was supposed to be on board, this time, as well. But somehow an intervention occurred that made sure she was assigned to _The Eden_ instead."

"She said as much in her recordings," Jim agreed.

"Indeed. When we discovered _The Botany Bay_, originally, she was among the members of the team that discovered the sleeping passengers. It was here that she met Khan, and she very nearly ensured his successful take-over of the _Enterprise_."

"What stopped him?" Jim asked.

"Her own conscience, I think," Spock the Elder said. "And her duty to the ship. Though she was enamored with Khan, she was also a clever woman, and managed to save your life. When Khan and his people were arrested and placed on trial, she was to be court marshaled. However, she chose exile. Her cunning, intelligence, and then her loyalty to him, I believe, made Khan see in her great potential. He even called her a 'Superior Woman'."

"But what about now? There have been a lot of changes between this line of history and yours," Jim said.

"Ah, but, I believe that not much has really changed between the two timelines, Jim," the older Spock countered. "From what you have gleaned from those journals, and data disks, can you not surmise that in these altered chains of events that he came upon the same conclusion?"

"She seemed pretty damn smart to me," Bones remarked.

"It is a pity that such a woman was reassigned," the younger Spock admitted.

"Maybe if she hadn't, none of this would have happened," Jim added.

"Or," the older Vulcan said, "It may yet have, with terrible consequences… One cannot know. But, these tidings have further cemented, for me, the belief that some meetings are meant to occur, and that some destinies cannot be circumvented. Even if they can be altered, or delayed for a time."

"What happened to her, in your timeline?" Jim asked Spock the Elder.

"She perished. Unable to fight the eel, she sacrificed herself for Khan."

Jim sighed. The same fate, in the end. "Thank you for talking with us, Mr. Spock," Jim said. "… I think I can accept that, now. It's the saddest thing I think I'll ever hear, but… I can accept it."

"I am always honored to be of some help to you, Jim," the older Spock said. "May I ask what your plans are now?"

Jim tapped one hand's fingers on the table. "Well, we'd thought to give the Lieutenant a proper funeral, a possible posthumous promotion in rank, and burying her on Earth."

"…Might I make a suggestion, Jim?" the older Spock asked.

Jim was all ears.

Three days later, once again aboard the _Yakima_, and dressed in their best uniforms, Jim, Spock, Bones, and Sulu stood in the small transporter room of the vessel. He stood beside a shining, burnished steel capsule. Inside of the capsule rested the body of Mrs. Singh.

"We are gathered here, today," Jim said soberly, "To say farewell to Lieutenant Commander Marla McGivers… She served under her captain, Archibald Harlan, bravely, and showed the depths of her sense of duty when she saw that her ship's mission was carried out. As Marla Singh, she faced harrowing trials without complaint, and with, as her husband writes, a 'fierce and bright spirit'. Ultimately, she was a woman who followed her heart, wherever it led, and accepted the consequences with grace and determination. And I admit that it was my misfortune, and is my great regret, not to have known such a resourceful, strong, and resilient woman."

He, and his friends and fellow officers, each stood at attention, and then offered the capsule's inhabitant a respectful salute.

And strangely, he found himself pitying Khan, as well. While he could not forgive the terrorist and killer for his bloody-handed exploits, reading Khan's journal had given him some insight into the hellish circumstances that had fueled the dictator's decent in to madness. No one deserved to go through what the super-human had endured on Ceti Alpha V.

Jim then nodded to Spock, who crossed to the compartment to operate the transporter's control panel. Outside laid the empty space where once the Mutara Nebula, and the Genesis Planet, had existed. The sight of Khan's final battle, where his, and likely his son's, remains had vaporized with the rest of the _Reliant._

_Hallowed ground_, Jim thought, as the capsule was surrounded by shimmering light. As it vanished, he added, silently, _God speed, Marla._

_I hope that now that you are reunited, you, your husband, and your son can find peace._

**The End.**


	31. A Note From The Author

**A Note From The Author.**

I would like to thank all of you readers who stuck with me through this story. From the time that I saw _Star Trek: In To Darkness_, I had been convinced that I wanted to write a story for Khan, to continue his story. And being a fan of the old series, with fond memories of _The Wrath of Khan_, I wanted to keep true to the original canon in some form.

Along the way, many things and plans changed for this story. Many choices made and others discarded. I want to thank those of you who helped to shape this story for the better, either through requests, questions, or simply pointing out finer points I myself had missed. As time passes, I will likely go through again and find more, and adjust them accordingly. While the telling is done, the story will always be on-going in the sense that I will never stop fully tweaking it and editing it until it is polished and at its utmost best.

For those of you unsatisfied or unhappy with certain choices, I apologize, but these were my choices to make, as the writer. Some worked for many, others didn't, and we are all free to have an opinion. Should anyone out there, reading this, decide they have their own ideas or want to venture in to writing their own version of these characters, I will be glad to read them and keep an open mind, and critique, review, and see just what your minds cook up, just as you have done with me.

As for those of you who may be wondering if I will do a sequel, or who want to know what happened with Khan, the Augments, and of course with Astrid and her band, well, much of that story is told in _To Reign in Hell_, and while a great deal of this was a re-telling and re-imagining of the story in the Abbrams AU, it was only my goal to ever tell Marla's story with Khan. Yes, I included Khan's POV at times, but only where I thought it necessary to help us see other parts of the over-all story of this character that, sadly, receives so little recognition and credit. So much so that she was ignored all together in the recent film.

Though perhaps the Khan origin-comics will fix that? Who knows.

But to answer, no. I won't be writing about them. And I won't be re-writing all of _The Wrath of Khan_. Aside from minor changes (such as Scotty and Chekov's switch, since Chekov never met Khan in the reboot) the story from the film remains in-tact, in my mind. And I do not feel that I am the writer who can be tasked to re-imagine that tale in full. If anyone out there has the vision, patience, and time to take on such a feat, I will happily follow your story from start to finish.

I will say, however, that I do intend to make a prequel of sorts. But I will wait for refreshed inspiration from the film's release on Blu-ray later this year. We shall see then how fate danced Marla and Khan around one another before it finally brought them together. And that's the only tidbit I'll share for now.

For those of you willing to follow my writing in other genres and worlds in the future, fret not. Soon I shall be posting an all new tale, which is a collaboration with my dear friend TekaWolf.

The next time you see me, well… Things are going to get wibbley ^.^

Tata for now, everyone. Thank you all so much for reading.


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